THE  CIVIL  WAR 

THROUGH  THE 
CAMERA  - 

Hundreds  of  Vivid  Photographs 

Actually  Taken  in  Civil  War  Times 

Sixteen  Reproductions  in  Color  of   Famous  War  Paintings 


By 
HENRY  W.  ELSON 

Professor  of  History,  Ohio  University 


A  Complete  Illustrated  History  of  the 
CIVIL  WAR 


NEW    YORK 
McKinlay,  Stone  &  Mackenzie 


COPYRIGHT,    1912 
PATRIOT  PUBLISHING  Co.,  SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 


MAJOR  ROBERT  ANDERSON  AND  FAMILY 

This  Federal  major  of  artillery  was  summoned  on  April  11,  1861,  to  surrender 
Fort  Sumter  and  the  property  of  the  government  whose  uniform  he  wore. 
At  half-past  four  the  following  morning  the  boom  of  the  first  gun  from  Fort 
Johnson  in  Charleston  Harbor  notified  the  breathless,  waiting  world  that 
war  was  on.  The  flag  had  been  fired  on,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives 
were  to  be  sacrificed  ere  the  echoes  of  the  great  guns  died  away  at  the  end  of 
four  years  into  the  obs  of  a  nation  whose  best  and  bravest,  North  and  South, 
had  strewn  the  many  battlefields.  No  wonder  that  the  attention  of  the  civil 
ized  world  was  focussed  on  the  man  who  provoked  the  first  blow  in  the  great 
est  conflict  the  world  has  ever  known.  He  was  the  man  who  handled  the 
situation  at  the  breaking  point.  To  him  the  North  looked  to  preserve  the 
Federal  property  in  Charleston  Harbor,  and  the  honor  of  the  National  flag. 
The  action  of  the  South  depended  upon  his  decision.  He  played  the  part  of 
a  true  soldier,  and  two  days  after  the  first  shot  was  fired  he  led  his  little  gar 
rison  of  the  First  United  States  Artillery  out  of  Sumter  with  the  honors  of  war. 


»  —  •"*  L  '• 

l\)  t  O 


S;C,EN;ES.  ••{•>?     •.'6.9. 
'1 


FOLLOWED 
"BROTHER  JONA 
THAN"  (PAGE  44) 

The  upper  'photograph 
shows  Confederates  on 
Monday  the  fifteenth  of 
April,  1861  —  one  day 
after  the  momentous 
event  which  Holmes 
dimly  prophesied  in 
"  Brother  Jonathan  " 
(page  44).  The  picture 
below,  with  the  two  fol 
lowing,  were  made  on 
the  16th.  As  April  wore 
on,  North  and  South 
alike  had  been  reluctant 
to  strike  first.  When 
Major  Robert  Anderson, 
on  December  26,  1860, 
removed  to  Fort  Sumtcr, 
on  an  island  at  the 
entrance  to  Charleston 


IN  OJ 


CONFEDERATES   IN  SUMTER  THE  DAY  AFTER  ANDERSON  LEFT 


v    \NCWv.A\D    K  \STKUX    "A<; 

,.t  !,,'•  ,,,-lti.,,,    ,.   ,     M 


A  GUN  TRAINED  ON  CHARLESTON  BY  ANDERSON 


Harbor,  he  placed  him 
self  in  a  position  to  with 
stand  long  attack.  But 
he  needed  supplies.  The 
Confederates  would  al 
low  none  to  be  landed. 
When  at  length  rumors 
of  a  powerful  naval  force 
to  relieve  the  fort 
reached  Charleston,  the 
Confederates  demanded 
the  surrender  of  the  gar 
rison.  Anderson  prom 
ised  to  evacuate  by  April 
15th  if  he  received  no 
additional  supplies.  His 
terms  were  rejected.  At 
half-past  four  on  the 
morning  of  April  12th  a 
shell  from  Fort  Johnson 
"rose  high  in  air,  and 
curving  in  its  course, 
burst  almost  directly 
over  the  fort."  The 
mighty  war  had  begun. 


TWO  DAYS  AFTER  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  SUMTER,  APRIL  16,  1861 

Wade  Hampton  (the  tallest  figure)  and  other  leading  South  Carolinians  inspecting  the  effects  of  the  cannonading  that 
had  forced  Major  Anderson  to  evacuate,  and  had  precipitated  the  mightiest  conflict  of  modern  times — two  days  before. 


V 


V 


• 


RECORDS  OF  THE  WAR  BETWEEN 
THE  STATES 

By  MARCUS  ,T.  WRIGHT,  Brigadier-General,  C.S.A. 

Agent  of  the  United  States  War  Department  for  the  Collection  of 
Military  Records 

fTlHE  war  which  was  carried  on  in  the  United  States  in 
1  1861-5,  called  "  The  War  of  the  Rebellion,"  "  The  Civil 
War,"  "  The  War  of  Secession,"  and  "  The  War  Between 
the  States,"  was  one  of  the  greatest  conflicts  of  ancient  or 
modern  times.  Official  reports  show  that  2,865,028  men  were 
mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States.  The  report 
of  Provost-Marshal  General  Fry  shows  that  of  these  61,362 
were  killed  in  battle,  34,773  died  of  wounds,  183,287  died  of 
disease,  306  were  accidentally  killed,  and  267  were  executed  by 
sentence.  The  Adjutant-General  made  a  report  February  7, 
1869,  showing  the  total  number  of  deaths  to  be  303,504. 

The  Confederate  forces  are  estimated  from  600,000  to 
1,000,000  men,  and  ever  since  the  conclusion  of  the  war  there 
has  been  no  little  controversy  as  to  the  total  number  of  troops 
involved.  The  losses  in  the  Confederate  army  have  never 
been  officially  reported,  but  the  United  States  War  Depart 
ment,  which  has  been  assiduously  engaged  in  the  collection  of 
all  records  of  both  armies,  has  many  Confederate  muster-rolls 
on  which  the  casualties  are  recorded.  The  tabulation  of  these 
rolls  shows  that  52,954  Confederate  soldiers  were  killed  in 
action,  21,570  died  of  wounds,  and  59,297  died  of  disease.  This 
does  not  include  the  missing  muster-rolls,  so  that  to  these  fig 
ures  a  substantial  percentage  must  be  added.  Differences  in 
methods  of  reporting  the  strength  of  commands,  the  absence 
of  adequate  field-records  and  the  destruction  of  those  actually 


7 


, 


AFTER  THE  GREAT  MASS  MEETING  IX  UNION  SQUARE,  NEW  YORK,  APRIL  20,  1861 

Knots  of  citizens  still  linger  around  the  stands  where  Anderson,  who  had  abandoned  Sumter  only  six  days 
before,  had  just  roused  the  multitude  to  wild  enthusiasm.  Of  this  gathering  in  support  of  the  Government 
the  New  York  Herald  said  at  the  time:  "Such  a  mighty  uprising  of  the  people  has  never  before  been  witnessed 
in  New  York,  nor  throughout  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  Union.  Five  stands  were  erected,  from 
which  some  of  the  most  able  speakers  of  the  city  and  state  addressed  the  multitude  on  the  necessity  of 
rallying  around  the  flag  of  the  Republic  in  this  hour  of  its  danger.  A  series  of  resolutions  was  proposed  and 
unanimously  adopted,  pledging  the  meeting  to  use  every  means  to  preserve  the  Union  intact  and  inviolate. 
Great  unanimity  prevailed  throughout  the  whole  proceedings;  party  politics  were  ignored,  and  the  en 
tire  meeting — speakers  and  listeners — were  a  unit  in  maintaining  the  national  honor  unsullied.  Major'Ander- 
son,  the  hero  of  Fort  Sumter,  was  present,  and  showed  himself  at  the  various  stands,  at  each  of  which  he  was 
most  enthusiastically  received.  An  impressive  feature  of  the  occasion  was  the  flag  of  Sumter,  hoisted  on 
the  stump  of  the  staff  that  had  been  shot  away,  placed  in  the  hand  of  the  equestrian  statue  of  Washington." 


0f  tip  War 


tip 


made  are  responsible  for  considerable  lack  of  information  as 
to  the  strength  and  losses  of  the  Confederate  army.  There 
fore,  the  matter  is  involved  in  considerable  controversy  and 
never  will  be  settled  satisfactorily;  for  there  is  no  probability 
that  further  data  on  this  subject  will  be  forthcoming. 

The  immensity  and  extent  of  our  great  Civil  War  are 
shown  by  the  fact  that  there  were  fought  2,261  battles  and  en 
gagements,  which  took  place  in  the  following  named  States: 
In  New  York,  1 ;  Pennsylvania,  9 ;  Maryland,  30 ;  District  of 
Columbia,  1;  West  Virginia,  80;  Virginia,  519;  North  Caro 
lina,  85;  South  Carolina,  60;  Georgia,  108;  Florida,  32; 
Alabama,  78;  Mississippi,  186;  Louisiana,  118;  Texas,  14; 
Arkansas,  167;  Tennessee,  298;  Kentucky,  138;  Ohio,  3;  In 
diana,  4 ;  Illinois,  1 ;  Missouri,  244 ;  Minnesota,  6 ;  California, 
6;  Kansas,  7;  Oregon,  4;  Nevada,  2;  Washington  Territory, 
1;  Utah,  1;  New  Mexico,  19;  Nebraska,  2;  Colorado,  4;  Indian 
Territory,  17;  Dakota,  11;  Arizona,  4;  and  Idaho,  1. 

It  soon  became  evident  that  the  official  record  of  the  War 
of  1861-5  must  be  compiled  for  the  purposes  of  Government 
administration,  as  well  as  in  the  interest  of  history,  and  this 
work  was  projected  near  the  close  of  the  first  administration 
of  President  Lincoln.  It  has  continued  during  the  tenure  of 
succeeding  Presidents,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretaries 
of  War,  from  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  under  whom  it  began,  to 
Secretary  Elihu  Root,  under  wrhose  direction  it  was  completed. 
As  a  successor  to  and  complement  of  this  Government  publi 
cation,  nothing  could  be  more  useful  or  interesting  than  the 
present  publication.  The  text  does  not  aim  at  a  statistical 
record,  but  is  an  impartial  narrative  supplementing  the  pic 
tures.  Nothing  gives  so  clear  a  conception  of  a  person  or  an 
event  as  a  picture.  The  more  intelligent  people  of  the  country, 
North  and  South,  desire  the  truth  put  on  record,  and  all  bitter 
feeling  eliminated.  This  work,  with  its  text  and  pictures,  it 
is  believed,  will  add  greatly  to  that  end. 


1,   PATRIOT  Pua   CO. 


RECRUITING  ON  BROADWAY,   1861 


Looking  north  on  Broadway 
from  "The  Park"  (later 
City  Hall  Park)  in  war 
time,  one  sees  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  waving  above  the 
recruiting  station,  past 
which  the  soldiers  stroll. 
There  is  a  convenient  booth 
with  liquid  refreshments. 
To  the  right  of  the  picture 
the  rear  end  of  a  street  car  is 
visible,  but  passenger  travel 
on  Broadway  itself  is  by 
stage.  On  the  left  is  the 
Astor  House,  then  one  of 
the  foremost  hostelries  of 
the  city.  In  the  lower  pho 
tograph  the  view  is  from  the 


balcony  of  the  Metropolitan 
looking  north  on  Broadway. 
The  twin  towers  on  the  left 
are  those  of  St.  Thomas's 
Church.  The  lumbering 
stages,  with  the  deafening 
noise  of  their  rattling  win 
dows  as  they  drive  over  the 
cobblestones,  are  here  in 
force.  More  hoop-skirts 
are  retreating  in  the  dis 
tance,  and  a  gentleman  in 
the  tall  hat  of  the  period 
is  on  his  way  down  town. 
Few  of  the  buildings  seen 
here  remained  half  a  cen 
tury  later.  The  time  is  sum 
mer,  as  the  awnings  attest. 


EDWIN  M.  STANTON 
Secretary  of  War. 


MONTGOMERY  BLAIR 
Postmaster-G  eneral . 


GIDEON  WELLES 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


SALMON  P.  CHASE 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


HANNIBAL  HAMLIN 
Vice-President. 


MEMBERS  OF 

PRESIDENT    LINCOLN'S 

OFFICIAL  FAMILY 

Other  members  were:  War,  Simon 
Cameron  (1861);  Treasury,  W.  P. 
Fesscnden,  July  1,  1SG4,  and  Hugh 
McCulloch,  March  4,  18G5;  Interior, 
John  P.  Usher,  January  8,  18G3;  At 
torney-General,  James  fe}n-ed,  Decem 
ber  2,  1864;  Postmaster-General, 
William  Dennison,  September  $4,1864. 


WILLIAM  H.  SEWAIID 
Secretary  of  State. 


CALEB  B.  SMITH 
Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


EDWARD  BATES 
Attorney-General. 


JAMES  A.  SEDDON 
Secretary  of  ^Yar. 


CHRISTOPHER  G.  MEMMINGER 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


STEPHEN  R.  MALLORY 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


JOHN  H.  REAGAN 
Postmaster-General. 


MEN    WHO     HELPED      PRESI 
DENT  DAVIS  GUIDE  THE 
SHIP  OF  STATE 

The  members  of  the  Cabinet  were 
chosen  not  from  intimate  friends  of 
the  President,  but  from  the  men  pre 
ferred  by  the  States  they  represented. 
There  was  no  Secretary  of  the  In 
terior  in  the  Confederate  Cabinet. 


ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS 
Vice-Pres  ide  n  t . 


JUDAH  P.  BENJAMIN 
Secretary  of  State. 


VICE-PRESIDENT  STEPHENS 
AND  MEMBERS  OF  THE 
CONFEDERATE  CABINET 

Judah  P.  Benjamin,  Secretary  of 
State,  has  been  called  the  brain  of 
the  Confederacy.  President  Davis 
wished  to  appoint  the  Honorable 
Robert  Barnwell,  Secretary  of  State, 
but  Mr.  Barnwell  declined  the  honor. 


GEORGE  DAVIS 
Attorney-General. 


BULL  RUN— THE  VOLUNTEERS 
FACE  FIRE 

fT^HERE  had  been  strife,  a  bloodless,  political  strife,  for 
M.  forty  years  between  the  two  great  sections  of  the  Ameri 
can  nation.  No  efforts  to  reconcile  the  estranged  brethren  of 
the  same  household  had  been  successful.  The  ties  that  bound 
the  great  sections  of  the  country  had  severed  one  by  one; 
their  contention  had  grown  stronger  through  all  these  years, 
until  at  last  there  was  nothing  left  but  a  final  appeal  to  the 
arbitrament  of  the  sword — then  came  the  great  war,  the  great 
est  civil  war  in  the  annals  of  mankind. 

"  Hostilities  "  began  with  the  secession  of  South  Carolina 
from  the  Union,  December  20,  1860.  On  January  9,  1861, 
the  Star  of  the  West  was  fired  upon  in  Charleston  Harbor. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  nation's  history  the  newly-elected 
President  had  entered  the  capital  city  by  night  and  in  secret, 
in  the  fear  of  the  assassin's  plots.  For  the  first  time  he  had 
been  inaugurated  under  a  military  guard.  Then  came  the 
opening  shots,  and  the  ruined  walls  of  the  noble  fort  in  Charles 
ton  harbor  told  the  story  of  the  beginnings  of  the  fratricidal 
war.  The  fall  of  Sumter,  on  April  14,  1861,  had  aroused  the 
North  to  the  imminence  of  the  crisis,  revealing  the  danger  that 
threatened  the  Union  and  calling  forth  a  determination  to 
preserve  it.  The  same  event  had  unified  the  South;  four  addi 
tional  States  cast  their  lot  with  the  seven  which  had  already 
seceded  from  the  Union.  Virginia,  the  Old  Dominion,  the  first 
born  of  the  sisterhood  of  States,  swung  into  the  secession  col 
umn  but  three  days  after  the  fall  of  Sumter;  the  next  day, 
April  18th,  she  seized  the  arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  on 
the  20th  the  great  navy-yard  at  Norfolk. 

Two  governments,  each  representing  a  different  economic 


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July 
1861 


and  political  idea,  now  stood  where  there  had  been  but  one — the 
North,  with  its  powerful  industrial  organization  and  wealth; 
the  South,  with  its  rich  agricultural  empire.  Both  were  call 
ing  upon  the  valor  of  their  sons. 

At  the  nation's  capital  all  was  confusion  and  disorder. 
The  tramp  of  infantry  and  the  galloping  of  horsemen  through 
the  streets  could  be  heard  day  and  night.  Throughout  the 
country  anxiety  and  uncertainty  reigned  on  all  sides.  Wtiuld 
the  South  return  to  its  allegiance,  would  the  Union  be  divided, 
or  would  there  be  war?  The  religious  world  called  unto  the 
heavens  in  earnest  prayer  for  peace;  but  the  rushing  torrent 
of  events  swept  on  toward  war,  to  dreadful  internecine  war. 

The  first  call  of  the  President  for  troops,  for  seventy-five 
thousand  men,  was  answered  with  surprising  alacrity.  Citi 
zens  left  their  farms,  their  workshops,  their  counting  rooms, 
and  hurried  to  the  nation's  capital  to  take  up  arms  in  defense 
of  the  Union.  A  similar  call  by  the  Southern  President  was 
answered  with  equal  eagerness.  Each  side  believed  itself  in 
the  right.  Both  were  profoundly  sincere  and  deeply  in  earnest. 
Both  have  won  the  respect  of  history. 

After  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  two  sides  spent  the 
spring  months  marshaling  their  forces  for  the  fierce  conflict 
that  was  to  follow.  President  Lincoln  had  called  for  three- 
months'  volunteers ;  at  the  beginning  of  July  some  thirty  thou 
sand  of  these  men  were  encamped  along  the  Potomac  about 
the  heights  of  Arlington.  As  the  weeks  passed,  the  great 
Northern  public  grew  impatient  at  the  inaction  and  demanded 
that  Sumter  be  avenged,  that  a  blow  be  struck  for  the  Union. 

The  "  call  to  arms  "  rang  through  the  nation  and  aroused 
the  people.  No  less  earnest  was  the  feeling  of  the  South,  and 
soon  two  formidable  armies  were  arrayed  against  each  other, 
only  a  hundred  miles  apart — at  Washington  and  at  Richmond. 

The  commander  of  the  United  States  Army  was  Lieut.- 
General  Winfield  Scott,  whose  military  career  had  begun  be 
fore  most  of  the  men  of  '61  had  been  born.  Aged  and  infirm, 


Copyright  by  Review  of  Renews  Co. 

THE  SOUTHERNER  OF  THE  HOUR  IN   '61. 

Born  in  New  Orleans  on  May  28,  1818,  the  Southern  leader  upon  whom  at 
first  all  eyes  were  turned,  Pierre  Gustave  Toutant  Beauregard,  was  gradu 
ated  from  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy  in  1838.  Gallant  and  dashing,  he 
won  the  brevets  of  Captain  and  Major  in  the  war  with  Mexico  and  was 
wounded  at  Chapultepec.  Early  in  '61  he  resigned  from  the  army,  and 
joined  the  Confederacy,  being  in  command  of  the  Confederate  forces  in  the 
firing  on  Fort  Sumter  in  April.  Owing  to  his  forceful  personality,  he  became 
a  popular  and  noted  leader  in  the  Confederacy.  After  the  Union  defeat  at 
Manassas,  he  was  looked  upon  as  the  coming  Napoleon.  He  was  confirmed  as 
Major-General  in  the  Confederate  army  on  July  30,  1861,  but  he  had  held  the 
provisional  rank  of  Brigadier-General  since  February  20th,  before  a  shot  was 
fired.  After  his  promotion  to  Major-General,  he  commanded  the  Army  of 
the  Mississippi  under  General  A.  S.  Johnston,  whom  he  succeeded  at  Shiloh. 
He  defended  Charleston,  S.  C.,  in  1862-3  and  afterward  commanded  the  De 
partment  of  North  Carolina  and  Southeastern  Virginia.  He  died  at  New 
Orleans  in  1893. 


ull  Sim 


July 
1861 


**»*. 


he  remained  in  Washington.  The  immediate  command  of  the 
army  was  entrusted  to  Brigadier-General  Irvin  McDowell. 

Another  Union  army,  twenty  thousand  strong,  lay  at 
Martinsburg,  Virginia,  under  the  command  of  Major-General 
Patterson,  who,  like  General  Scott,  was  a  veteran  of  the  War 
of  1812  and  of  the  Mexican  War. 

Opposite  McDowell,  at  Manassas  Junction,  about  thirty 
miles  from  Washington,  lay  a  Confederate  army  under  Brig 
adier-General  Beauregard  who,  three  months  before,  had  won 
the  homage  of  the  South  by  reducing  Fort  Sumter.  Opposed 
to  Patterson  in  the  Shenandoah  valley  was  Joseph  E.  John 
ston  with  a  force  of  nine  thousand  men.  The  plans  of  the 
President  and  General  Scott  were  to  send  McDowell  against 
Beauregard,  while  Patterson  was  to  detain  Johnston  in  the 
Valley  and  prevent  him  from  joining  Beauregard.  It  was  con 
fidently  believed  that,  if  the  two  Confederate  forces  could  be 
kept  apart,  the  "  Grand  Army  "  could  win  a  signal  victory  over 
the  force  at  Manassas;  and  on  July  16th,  with  waving  banners 
arid  lively  hopes  of  victory,  amid  the  cheers  of  the  multitude,  it 
moved  out  from  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  toward  the  interior 
of  Virginia.  It  was  a  motley  crowd,  dressed  in  the  varied 
uniforms  of  the  different  State  militias.  The  best  disciplined 
troops  were  those  of  the  regular  army,  represented  by  infan 
try,  cavalry,  and  artillery.  Even  the  navy  was  drawn  upon 
and  a  battalion  of  marines  was  included  in  the  Union  forces. 
In  addition  to  the  regulars  were  volunteers  from  all  the  New 
England  States,  from  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  and  from 
Ohio,  Michigan,  and  Minnesota,  organizations  which,  in  an 
swer  to  the  President's  call  for  troops,  had  volunteered  for 
three  months'  service.  Many  were  boys  in  their  teens  with 
the  fresh  glow  of  youth  on  their  cheeks,  wholly  ignorant  of 
the  exhilaration,  the  fear,  the  horrors  of  the  battle-field.  On 
ward  through  the  Virginia  plains  and  uplands  they  marched  to 
the  strains  of  martial  music.  Unused  to  the  rigid  discipline 
of  war,  many  of  the  men  would  drop  out  of  line  to  gather 


'Vu 


W&&V& 


ONE  OF  THE  FIRST  UNION  VOLUNTEER  REGIMENTS. 

The  First  Minnesota,  a  regiment  that  fought  in  the  flanking  column  at  Bull  Run.  On  April  14,  1861,  the 
day  after  Sumter's  surrender,  the  Federal  Government  received  an  offer  of  a  volunteer  regiment  from  Minne 
sota,  and  on  April  29,  the  First  Minnesota  was  mustered  into  service  by  Lieutenant  W.  W.  Sanders,  U.  S.  A. 
Under  Colonel  William  O.  Gorman  the  regiment  proceeded  to  Washington  in  June  and,  attached  to  Frank 
lin's  Brigade,  Heintzelman's  Division  of  McDowell's  Army,  at  Bull  Run  gave  an  excellent  account  of  itself, 
finally  retiring  from  the  field  in  good  order.  A  record  for  conspicuous  bravery  was  sustained  by  the  First 
Minnesota  throughout  the  war,  notably  its  famous  charge  on  the  field  of  Gettysburg,  July  2,  1863. 

The  photograph  was  taken  just  before  the  regiment  left  Fort  Snelling  in  1861.  In  the  front  line  the  first  from  the  left  is  Lieut.  Colonel 
Stephen  Miller,  the  next  is  Colonel  Gorman.  On  his  left  hand  is  Major  Dyke  and  next  to  him  is  Adjutant  W.  B.  Leach.  Between 
the  last  two  and  behind  them  is  Captain  William  Colvill,  while  at  the  left  hand  of  Adjutant  Leach  is  Captain  Mark  Downie.  At 
the  extreme  right  of  the  picture  stands  General  J.  B.  Sanborn  with  Lieutenant  Sanders  (mustering  officer)  on  his  right  hand,  and 
on  Sanders'  ri^ht  is  the  Honorable  Morton  S.  Wilkinson.  Colvill,  as  Colonel,  led  the  regiment  in  its  Gettysburg  charge. 


v. 


berries  or  tempting  fruits  along  the  roadside,  or  to  refill  their 
canteens  at  every  fresh  stream  of  water,  and  frequent  halts 
were  necessary  to  allow  the  stragglers  to  regain  their  lines. 

After  a  two  days'  march,  with  "  On  to  Richmond  "  as 
their  battle-cry,  the  army  halted  at  the  quiet  hamlet  of  Centre- 
ville,  twenty-seven  miles  from  Washington  and  seven  miles 
from  Manassas  Junction  where  lay  the  waiting  Confederate 
army  of  similar  composition — untrained  men  and  boys.  Men 
from  Virginia,  from  North  and  South  Carolina,  from  the 
mountains  of  Tennessee,  from  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and 
Georgia,  even  from  distant  Arkansas,  had  gathered  on  the  soil 
of  the  Old  Dominion  State  to  do  battle  for  the  Southern  cause. 
Between  the  two  armies  flowed  the  stream  of  Bull  Run,  destined 
to  give  its  name  to  the  first  great  battle  of  the  impending  con 
flict.  The  opposing  commanders,  McDowell  and  Beauregard, 
had  been  long-time  friends ;  twenty-three  years  before,  they  had 
been  graduated  in  the  same  class  at  West  Point. 

Beauregard  knew  of  the  coming  of  the  Federal  army. 
The  news  had  been  conveyed  to  him  by  a  young  man,  a  former 
government  clerk  at  Washington,  whose  sympathies,  however, 
lay  with  the  cause  of  the  South.  He  won  the  confidence  of 
Beauregard.  The  latter  sent  him  to  the  capital  city  bearing 
a  paper  with  two  words  in  cipher,  "  Trust  Bearer."  With  this 
he  was  to  call  at  a  certain  house,  present  it  to  the  lady  within, 
and  wait  a  reply.  Traveling  all  night,  he  crossed  the  Potomac 
below  Alexandria,  and  reached  the  city  at  dawn,  when  the 
newsboys  were  calling  out  in  the  empty  streets  the  latest  intel 
ligence  of  the  army.  The  messenger  rang  the  doorbell  at  a 
house  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  White  House  and  delivered 
the  scrap  of  paper  to  the  only  one  in  the  city  to  whom  it  was 
intelligible.  She  hurriedly  gave  the  youth  his  breakfast,  wrote 
in  cipher  the  words,  "  Order  issued  for  McDowell  to  march 
upon  Manassas  to-night,"  and  giving  him  the  scrap  of  paper, 
sent  him  on  his  way.  That  night  the  momentous  bit  of  news 
was  in  the  hands  of  General  Beauregard.  He  instantly  wired 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,  PATRIOT  PUB.  CO. 


MRS.  GREENHOW,  THE  CONFEDERATE  SPY,  WITH  HER  DAUGHTER,  IN  THE  OLD  CAPITOL  PRISON 

Mrs.  Rose  O'Neal  Greenhow,  a  zealous  and  trusted  friend  of  the  Confederacy,  lived  in  Washington  at  the  opening  of  the  war.  It  was 
she  who,  on  July  16,  1861,  sent  the  famous  cipher  message  to  Beauregard,  "Order  issued  for  McDowell  to  move  on  Manassas  to-night." 
Acting  on  this,  Beauregard  promptly  arranged  his  army  for  the  expected  attack,  while  Johnston  and  "Stonewall"  Jackson  hastened  from 
the  Valley  to  aid  in  repelling  the  Federal  advance.  Mrs.  Greenhow's  secret-service  work  was  cut  short  on  August  2Gth,  when  Allan 
Pinkerton,  the  Federal  detective,  arrested  her  and  put  her  under  military  guard  at  her  home,  398  Sixteenth  Street.  Afterward  she  was 
transferred  to  the  Old  Capitol  Prison.  She  remained  there  until  April,  1862.  On  June  2d,  after  pledging  her  word  not  to  come  north  of 
the  Potomac  until  the  war  was  over,  Mrs.  Greenhow  was  escorted  beyond  the  lines  of  the  L'nion  army  and  set  at  liberty.  It  was  later 
discovered  that  she  had,  even  while  in  prison,  c^'-responded  extensively  with  Colonel  Thomas  Jordan,  of  General  Beauregard's  staff. 


nil  Sun 


Ufalwttwra 


V 


x 


President  Davis  at  Richmond  and  asked  that  he  be  reenforced 
by  Johnston's  army. 

As  we  have  seen,  General  Scott  had  arranged  that 
Patterson  detain  Johnston  in  the  Valley.  He  had  even  ad 
vised  McDowell  that  "  if  Johnston  joins  Beauregard  he  shall 
have  Patterson  on  his  heels."  But  the  aged  Patterson  was 
unequal  to  the  task  before  him.  Believing  false  reports,  he 
was  convinced  that  Johnston  had  an  army  of  thirty-five  thou 
sand  men,  and  instead  of  marching  upon  Johnston  at  Win 
chester  he  led  his  army  to  Chaiiestown,  twenty  miles  in  the 
opposite  direction.  Johnston  thereupon  was  free  to  join  Beau- 
regard  at  Manassas,  and  he  promptly  proceeded  to  do  so. 

McDowell's  eager  troops  had  rested  at  Centreville  for 
two  days.  The  time  for  them  to  test  their  mettle  in  a  general 
engagement  was  at  hand.  Sunday,  July  21st,  was  selected  as 
the  day  on  which  to  offer  battle.  At  half -past  two  in  the 
morning  the  sleeping  men  were  roused  for  the  coming  conflict. 
Their  dream  of  an  easy  victory  had  already  received  a  rude 
shock,  for  on  the  day  after  their  arrival  a  skirmish  between 
two  minor  divisions  of  the  opposing  armies  had  resulted  in 
the  retreat  of  the  Union  forces  after  nineteen  of  their  number 
lay  dead  upon  the  plain.  The  Confederates,  too,  had  suffered 
and  fifteen  of  their  army  were  killed.  But  patriotic  enthusiasm 
was  too  ardent  to  be  quenched  by  such  an  incident,  and  eagerly, 
in  the  early  dawn  of  the  sultry  July  morning,  they  marched 
toward  the  banks  of  the  stream  on  which  they  were  to  offer 
their  lives  in  the  cause  of  their  country. 

The  army  moved  out  in  three  divisions  commanded  by 
Generals  Daniel  Tyler,  David  Hunter,  and  S.  P.  Heintzel- 
man.  Among  the  subordinate  officers  was  Ambrose  E.  Burn- 
side,  who,  a  year  and  five  months  later,  was  to  figure  in  a  far 
greater  and  far  more  disastrous  battle,  not  many  miles  from 
this  same  spot;  and  William  T.  Sherman,  who  was  to  achieve 
a  greater  renown  in  the  coming  war. 

On  the  Southern  side  we  find  equally  striking  characters. 


July 
1861 


1 


ull  Hun  —  ofy? 


Jar?  Jfftr? 


July 
1861 


General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  not  held  by  Patterson  in 
the  Valley  and  with  a  portion  of  his  army  had  reached 
Manassas  on  the  afternoon  of  the  20th.  In  the  Indian  wars  of 
Jackson's  time  Johnston  had  served  his  country;  like  Mc 
Dowell  and  Beauregard,  he  had  battled  at  the  gates  of  Mexico ; 
and  like  the  latter  he  chose  to  cast  his  lot  with  the  fortunes  of 
the  South.  There,  too,  was  Longstreet,  who  after  the  war  was 
over,  was  to  spend  many  years  in  the  service  of  the  country  he 
was  now  seeking  to  divide.  Most  striking  of  all  was  "  Stone 
wall  "  Jackson,  whose  brilliant  military  career  was  to  astonish 
the  world. 

The  Union  plan  for  this  fateful  July  day  was  that  Tyler 
should  lead  his  division  westward  by  way  of  the  Warrenton 
turnpike  to  a  stone  bridge  that  crossed  Bull  Run,  about  four 
miles  from  Centreville.  At  the  same  time  the  main  army 
under  Hunter  and  Heintzelman  was  to  make  a  detour  of  sev 
eral  miles  northward  through  a  dense  forest  to  a  ford  of  Bull 
Run,  known  as  Sudley's  Ford.  Here  they  were  to  cross  the 
stream,  march  down  its  right  bank  and,  while  Tyler  guarded 
the  Stone  Bridge,  engage  the  foe  on  the  west  side  of  Bull 
Run.  The  plan  of  the  battle  wras  admirably  drawn,  but  the 
march  around  to  Sudley's  Ford  was  slower  than  had  been 
expected,  and  it  wyas  ten  o'clock  before  the  main  army  reached 
the  point  west  of  the  Stone  Bridge.  While  the  Federals  were 
making  their  plans  to  attack  the  Confederate  left  wing,  Gen 
erals  Beauregard  and  Johnston  were  planning  an  aggressive 
movement  against  the  left  wing  of  the  Federal  army.  They 
were  to  cross  Bull  Run  by  fords  several  miles  below  the  Stone 
Bridge  and  attack  the  Northern  troops  on  the  weaker  wing 
of  the  Union  force  in  an  effort  to  rout  them  before  relief  could 
be  sent  from  the  Federal  right.  The  Confederate  attack  was 
planned  to  take  place  a  few  hours  later  than  McDowell  had 
decided  to  move.  The  Southern  troops  were  preparing  to 
cross  the  stream  when  the  boom  of  cannon  at  the  Stone  Bridge 
told  that  the  Federals  had  taken  the  aggressive  and  that  the 


1 


\ 


THE  FOURTH  NEW  JERSEY  ON  THE  BANKS  OF  THE  POTOMAC,   1861 


THE  RAW  MATERIAL 

The  faces  of  these  untried  soldiers  from  New  Jersey  and  Vermont  show  the  enthusiasm  with  which  men  flocked  from  every  state  to  form 
an  army  for  the  Union.  Nor  was  that  enthusiasm  chilled  by  the  long  tedious  unfamiliar  beating  into  shape  that  McClellan  was  giving 
them  in  '61.  W'ar's  tedious  rudiments  had  to  be  learned,  but  when  the  time  came  for  fighting,  fighting  qualities  were  not  lacking  and  our 
citizen  soldiers  gave  an  account  of  themselves  that  startled  the  world.  The  Green  Mountain  Boys  that  first  came  to  Washington  were 
among  the  troops  that  made  the  first  warlike  move  from  the  city  to  extend  the  Federal  lines  into  Virginia.  It  was  on  these  advanced 
defences  of  the  Capital  that  a  Green  Mountain  Boy  was  found  one  night  asleep  on  post.  His  life  was  forfeit,  but  the  great  heart  of 
Father  Abraham  interposed.  Lincoln  knew  the  stuff  of  which  these  country  lads  were  made,  and  this  one  a  few  months  later  on  the 
battlefield  nobly  laid  down  the  life  he  owed  to  his  Commander-in-Chief.  Vermont  was  lavish  of  her  sons  and  sent  35,262,  nearly  60  per 
cent,  of  her  male  population  between  the  ages  of  18  and  45,  to  the  nation's  aid.  The  State  of  New  Jersey  sent  76,814  men,  61.2  per  cent, 
of  her  military  population.  The  first  raw  New  Jersey  soldiers  in  Washington  were  among  the  troops  that  occupied  Arlington  Heights, 
one  of  the  advance  positions  in  the  defences.  About  one-eighth  of  New  Jersey's  troops  laid  down  their  lives  for  their  country,  while 
nearly  one-fourth  of  the  Vermonters  that  went  to  the  War  never  returned. 


THE   SIXTH   VERMONT   AT   CAMP   GRIFFIN,    VIRGINIA 


nil  Him — ®Ij 


weak  Confederate  left  was  in  danger  of  being  overwhelmed 
by  the  superior  numbers  of  the  Union  right  wing.  Orders 
countermanding  the  command  to  attack  were  quickly  sent  to 
the  Southerners  at  the  lower  fords,  and  preparations  were  hur 
riedly  made  to  repulse  the  attack  of  the  Northern  force. 

Tyler  reached  the  Stone  Bridge  before  six  in  the  morning 
and  opened  fire  on  a  Confederate  force  under  Colonel  Evans 
on  the  other  side  of  the  run.  For  some  time  this  was  kept  up, 
and  Evans  was  much  puzzled  that  the  Federals  did  not  at 
tempt  to  cross  the  bridge ;  they  merely  kept  up  a  desultory  fire. 
The  failure  of  the  Union  troops  to  advance  led  Evans  to  be 
lieve  that  Tyler's  attack  was  only  a  feint  and  that  the  real 
attacking  force  would  approach  from  some  other  direction. 
This  belief  was  confirmed  when  he  descried  a  lengthening  line 
of  dust  above  the  tree-tops  far  in  the  distance,  north  of  the 
Warrenton  turnpike.  Evans  was  now  convinced  (and  he  was 
right)  that  the  main  Union  army  was  marching  to  Sudley's 
Ford,  three  miles  above  the  Stone  Bridge,  and  would  reach  the 
field  from  that  direction.  Quickly  then  he  turned  about  with 
six  companies  of  brave  South  Carolinians  and  a  battalion  of 
"  Louisiana  Tigers  "  and  posted  them  on  a  plateau  overlook 
ing  the  valley  of  Young's  Branch,  a  small  tributary  of  Bull 
Run.  Here,  not  far  from  the  Matthews  and  Carter  houses, 
he  awaited  the  coming  of  the  Federals. 

His  force  was  stationed  overlooking  the  Sudley  and  New 
market  road  and  an  open  field  through  which  the  Federal 
troops  would  be  forced  to  pass  to  reach  the  higher  ground 
held  by  the  Confederates.  Two  6-pound  howitzers  were 
placed  to  sweep  the  field  of  approach,  one  at  each  end  of 
Evans'  line  of  defense. 

With  guns  loaded,  and  howitzers  ready  to  pour  their 
charges  into  an  advancing  force,  the  Southerners  stood  and 
watched  the  line  of  dust  that  arose  above  the  trees.  It  moved 
slowly  to  the  westward.  Then,  where  the  Sudley  road  turns 
to  the  southward  to  cross  the  Sudley  Ford,  it  followed  the 


July 
1861 


EVE  OF  THE  CONFLICT. 

Stone  Church,  Centreville,  Virginia. — Past  this  little  stone  church  on  the  night  of  July  20,  1861,  and  long  into  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
first  marched  lines  of  hurrying  troops.  Their  blue  uniforms  were  new,  their  muskets  bright  and  polished,  and  though  some  faces  were 
pale  their  spirits  were  elated,  for  after  their  short  training  they  were  going  to  take  part,  for  the  first  time,  in  the  great  game  of  war.  It 
was  the  first  move  of  the  citizen  soldier  of  the  North  toward  actual  conflict.  Not  one  knew  exactly  what  lay  before  him.  The  men 
were  mostly  from  New  England  and  the  Middle  States.  They  had  left  desk  and  shop  and  farm  and  forge,  and  with  the  thought  in 
their  minds  that  the  war  would  last  for  three  months  the  majority  had  been  mustered  in.  Only  the  very  wise  and  farseeing  had  prophe 
sied  the  immensity  of  the  struggle,  and  these  were  regarded  as  extremists.  Their  ideas  were  laughed  at.  So  on  they  went  in  long  lines 
down  the  road  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  chattering,  laughing  and  talking  carelessly,  hardly  realizing  in  the  contagion  of  their  patri 
otic  ardor  the  grim  meaning  of  real  war.  The  battle  had  been  well  planned,  but  who  had  had  the  experience,  even  among  the  leaders, 
to  be  sure  of  the  details  and  the  absolute  carrying  out  of  orders?  With  the  exception  of  the  veterans  of  the  Mexican  War,  who  were 
regulars,  there  was  not  one  who  had  ever  maneuvered  a  thousand  men  in  the  field.  A  lesson  lay  before  them  and  it  was  soon  to  come. 
The  surprising  battle  that  opened  early  in  the  morning,  and  whose  results  spread  such  consternation  through  the  North,  was  really 
the  result  of  popular  clamor.  The  press  and  the  politicians  demanded  action,  and  throughout  the  South  the  same  confident  and  reck 
less  spirit  prevailed,  the  same  urging  to  see  something  done. 


nil  SUm 


July 
1861 


trend  of  the  highway.  It  reached  the  crossing  of  Bull  Run, 
and  the  line  of  dust  faded  as  the  Federals  spread  into  battle- 
line  behind  the  expanse  of  woodland  that  hid  each  column  from 
the  other's  view. 

It  was  nearing  ten  o'clock.  The  rays  of  the  summer  sun 
were  beating  in  sweltering  heat  upon  the  waiting  troops. 
Those  who  could  find  shelter  beneath  the  trees  moved  from 
their  places  into  the  shade.  Heavy  banks  of  storm  clouds 
were  gathering  on  the  horizon,  giving  promise  of  relief  from 
oppressive  warmth.  A  silence  settled  over  the  ranks  of  the 
Confederates  as  they  watched  the  edge  of  the  woodland  for 
the  first  appearance  of  the  approaching  troops. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  glimmer  of  the  sunlight  reflected 
from  burnished  steel  among  the  trees.  Then,  in  open  battle 
array,  the  Federal  advance  guard,  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Burnside,  emerged  from  the  wood  on  a  neighboring 
hill,  and  for  the  first  time  in  the  nation's  history  two  hostile 
American  armies  faced  each  other  in  battle  array.  At  Fort 
Sumter  only  the  stone  walls  had  suffered ;  not  a  drop  of  human 
blood  was  shed.  But  here  was  to  be  a  gigantic  conflict,  and 
thousands  of  people  believed  that  here  on  this  field  on  this  day 
would  be-  decided  the  fate  of  the  Union  and  the  fate  of  the 
Confederacy.  The  whole  country  awaited  in  breathless  ex 
pectancy  the  news  of  this  initial  conflict,  to  become  known  as 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run. 

With  little  delay  the  battle  opened.  The  Federals  had  a 
clear  advantage  in  numbers  as  their  outlying  forces  came  up; 
but  they  met  with  a  brave  resistance.  General  Bee,  of  South 
Carolina,  with  two  brigades,  crossed  a  valley  to  the  south  of 
Evans  in  the  face  of  a  heavy  artillery  fire  to  a  point  within  one 
hundred  yards  of  the  Federal  lines.  At  this  short  range  thou 
sands  of  shots  were  fired  and  many  brave  men  and  boys  were 
stretched  upon  the  green.  The  outcome  at  this  point  was  un 
certain  until  the  Union  forces  were  joined  by  Heintzelman 
with  heavy  reenforcements  and  by  Sherman  with  a  portion  of 


HERE  "STONEWALL"  JACKSON  WON  HIS  NAME. 

Robinson  House,  Bull  Run. — "Stonewall"  Jackson  won  his  name  near  this  house  early  in  the  afternoon  of  July  21st.  Meeting 
General  Bee's  troops  retreating  in  increasing  disorder,  he  advanced  with  a  battery  to  the  ridge  behind  the  Robinson  House  and  held 
the  position  until  Bee's  troops  had  rallied  in  his  rear.  "Look  at  Jackson  standing  there  like  a  stone  wall,"  was  the  sentence  that  gave 
birth  to  his  historic  nickname.  It  was  General  Bee  who  uttered  these  words,  just  before  he  fell,  adding,  "Rally  on  the  Virginians." 


WHERE  THE   CONFEDERATES  WAVERED. 

Center  of  Battle  of  Morning — July  21,  1861. — North  of  this  house,  about  a  mile,  the  Confederate  Colonel  Evans  met  the  columns  of 
Burnside  and  Porter  in  their  advance  south  from  Sudley  Ford.  Though  reinforced  by  General  Bee,  he  was  driven  back  at  noon  to  this 
house  in  the  valley  near  Young's  Branch.  Here  a  vigorous  Union  charge  swept  the  whole  battle  to  the  hill  south  of  the  stream.  General 
Bee  sent  for  reinforcements,  saying  that  unless  he  could  be  supported  "all  was  lost." 


ull  ffiiwt 


July 
1861 


Vtlfftf, 


Tyler's  division.  Bee  could  now  do  nothing  but  withdraw, 
and  in  doing  so  his  men  fell  into  great  disorder.  Cheer  after 
cheer  arose  from  the  ranks  of  the  Union  army. 

Meanwhile,  Generals  Beauregard  and  Johnston  had  re 
mained  at  the  right  of  their  line,  near  Manassas,  nearly  four 
miles  from  the  scene  of  action,  still  determined  to  press  their 
attack  on  the  Federal  left  if  the  opportunity  was  offered.  As 
the  morning  passed  and  the  sounds  of  conflict  became  louder 
and  extended  further  to  the  westward,  it  became  evident  to  the 
Confederate  leaders  that  the  Federals  were  massing  all  their 
strength  in  an  effort  to  crush  the  left  of  the  Southern  army. 
Plans  for  an  aggressive  movement  were  then  abandoned,  the 
commanders  withdrawing  all  their  reserve  forces  from  the 
positions  where  they  had  been  held  to  follow  up  the  Confed 
erate  attack,  and  sending  them  to  the  support  of  the  small 
force  that  was  holding  back  the  Federals.  After  dispatching 
troops  to  threaten  the  Union  left,  Johnston  and  Beauregard 
galloped  at  full  speed  to  the  scene  of  the  battle.  They 
arrived  about  noon— at  the  moment  when  Bee's  brigade  was 
fleeing  across  the  valley  from  the  hail  of  Federal  bullets.  As 
the  frightened  men  were  running  in  the  utmost  disorder, 
General  Bee,  seeing  Thomas  J.  Jackson's  brigade  calmly 
waiting  the  onset,  exclaimed  to  his  men,  "Look  at  Jackson; 
there  he  stands  like  a  stone  wall!  "  The  expression  spread  to 
the  army  and  to  the  world,  and  that  invincible  soldier  has  since 
been  known  as  "  Stonewall "  Jackson. 

Beauregard  and  Johnston  found  it  a  herculean  task  to 
rally  the  fleeing  men  and  re-form  the  lines,  but  they  succeeded 
at  length;  the  battle  was  renewed,  and  from  noon  till  nearly 
three  o'clock  it  raged  with  greater  fury  than  before.  The  fight 
was  chiefly  for  the  possession  of  the  plateau  called  the  Henry 
hill.  Up  and  down  the  slopes  the  two  armies  surged  in  the 
broiling  sun.  Beauregard,  like  McDowell  on  the  other  side, 
led  his  men  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  A  bursting  shell  killed 
his  horse  under  him  and  tore  the  heel  from  his  boot ;  he  mounted 


1 


V/A 


AFTER  BULL  RUN— GUARDING  THE  PRISONERS. 


Inside  Castle  Pinckney,  Charleston  Harbor,  August,  1861. — In 
these  hitherto  unpublished  Confederate  photographs  we  see  one  of 
the  earliest  volunteer  military  organizations  of  South  Carolina  and 
some  of  the  first  Federal  prisoners  taken  in  the  war.  The 
Charleston  Zouave  Cadets  were 
organized  in  the  summer  of 
1860,  and  were  recruited  from 
among  the  patriotic  young  men 
of  Charleston.  We  see  in  the 
picture  how  very  young  they 
were.  The  company  first  went 
into  active  service  on  Morris 
Island,  January  1,  1861,  and 
was  there  on  the  9th  when  the 
guns  of  the  battery  turned 
back  the  Star  of  the  West  ar 
riving  with  reinforcements  for 
Sumter.  The  company  was  also 
stationed  on  Sullivan's  Island 
during  the  bombardment  of 
Sumter,  April  12-13,  1861.  Af 
ter  the  first  fateful  clash  at  Bull 
Run,  July  21,  1861,  had  taught 
the  North  that  the  war  was  on 
in  earnest,  a  number  of  Federal 
prisoners  were  brought  to 
Charleston  and  placed  for  safe- 


THE  PRISONERS— HTH  NEW  YORK  ZOUAVES. 


keeping  in  Castle  Pinckney,  then  garrisoned  by  the  Charleston 
Zouave  Cadets.  To  break  the  monotony  of  guard  duty 
Captain  Chichester,  some  time  in  August,  engaged  a  photog 
rapher  to  take  some  pictures  about  the  fort  showing  his 
men.  Gray  uniforms  with  red  stripes,  red  fatigue  caps,  and 
white  cross  belts  were  a  novelty.  The  casemates  of  the  fort 
had  been  fitted  up  with  bunks  and  doors  as  sleeping  quarters 


for  the  prisoners.  Casemate  No.  1  was  occupied  by  prisoners 
from  the  llth  New  York  Zouaves,  who  had  been  recruited  almost 
entirely  from  the  New  York  Fire  Department.  The  smaller 
picture  is  a  nearer  view  of  their  quarters,  over  which  they  have 

placed  the  sign  "  Hotel  de 
Zouave."  We  see  them  still 
wearing  the  uniform  of  the  bat 
tlefield:  wide  dark-blue  trousers 
with  socks  covering  the  bot 
toms,  red  flannel  shirts  with  the 
silver  badge  of  the  New  York 
Fire  Department,  blue  jackets 
elaborately  trimmed  with  braid, 
red  fez  caps  with  blue  tassels, 
and  a  blue  sash  around  the 
waist.  Their  regiment,  the  fa 
mous  "  Ellsworth's  Zouaves," 
was  posted  at  Bull  Run  as  a 
support  for  Pickett's  and  Griffin's 
Batteries  during  the  fierce 
fighting  of  the  afternoon  on  the 
Henry  House  hill.  They  gave 
way  before  the  charge  of  the 
Confederates,  leaving  48  dead 
and  75  wounded  on  the  field. 
About  65  of  them  were  taken 
prisoners,  some  of  whom  we  see 


here  a  month  after  the  battle.  The  following  October  the 
prisoners  were  exchanged.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the 
possession  of  prisoners  did  not  mean  as  much  to  the  South  as 
it  did  later  in  the  struggle,  when  exchanges  became  almost 
the  last  resource  for  recruiting  the  dwindling  ranks.  Almost 
every  Southerner  capable  of  bearing  arms  bad  already  joined 
the  colors. 


nil  Stun 


about  sixteen  hundred  in  number,  were  subject  to  the  orders 
of  their  superiors,  and  they  made  a  brave  stand  against  the 
oncoming  foe  while  they  covered  the  retreat  of  the  disorganized 
mass.  On  the  Henry  hill  were  the  two  powerful  batteries 
of  Griffin  and  Ricketts.  They  had  done  most  valiant  service 
while  the  tide  of  battle  ebbed  and  flowed.  But  at  last  their 
hour  had  come.  A  Confederate  regiment,  dashing  from  a 
neighboring  hill,  poured  in  a  deadly  volley,  cut  down  the 
cannoneers  almost  to  a  man,  killed  their  horses,  and  cap 
tured  the  guns.  A  few  minutes  later  General  Beauregard 
rode  up  to  the  spot  and  noticed  Captain  Ricketts  lying  on  the 
ground,  desperately  wounded.  The  two  men  had  been  friends 
in  the  years  gone  by.  Beauregard,  recognizing  his  old  friend, 
asked  him  if  he  could  be  of  any  service.  He  then  sent  his  own 
surgeons  to  care  for  the  wounded  captain  and  detailed  one  of 
his  staff  to  make  him  comfortable  when  he  was  carried  to  Rich 
mond  as  a  prisoner  of  war. 

There  is  little  more  to  relate  of  the  battle  of  Bull  Run. 
In  his  report  McDowrell  stated  that  after  providing  for  the 
protection  of  the  retreat  from  the  battlefield  by  Porter's  and 
Blenker's  volunteer  brigades,  he  took  command  in  person  of 
the  force  previously  stationed  for  holding  the  road  back  to 
Centre ville  and  made  such  disposition  "  as  would  best  serve 
to  check  the  enemy,"  at  the  Centreville  ridge.  Some  hun 
dreds  of  civilians,  members  of  Congress  and  others,  had  come 
out  from  Washington  to  witness  a  victory  for  the  Grand  Army, 
and  they  saw  that  army  scattered  in  wild  flight  to  escape  an 
imaginary  pursuer.  The  Confederates  made  no  serious  effort 
to  follow  after  them,  for  the  routed  Federals  had  destroyed  the 
Stone  Bridge  as  they  passed  it  in  their  retreat,  and  had  ob 
structed  the  other  avenues  of  pursuit.  As  darkness  settled  over 
the  field  the  Confederates  returned  to  their  camps. 

McDowell  made  a  desperate  effort  to  check  and  reor 
ganize  his  army  at  Centreville,  but  he  was  powerless.  The 
troops  refused  to  listen  to  any  commands ;  they  rushed  on  and 


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great  numbers  of  them  traveled  all  night,  reaching  Wash 
ington  in  the  morning. 

These  raw  troops  had  now  received  their  first  baptism 
of  blood  and  fire.  Nearly  five  hundred  of  their  number  were 
left  dead  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  fourteen  hundred  were 
wounded.  The  captured  and  missing  brought  the  Federal 
loss  to  nearly  three  thousand  men.  The  Confederate  loss  in 
killed,  wounded,  and  missing  was  less  than  two  thousand.  The 
Federal  forces  engaged  were  nearly  nineteen  thousand,  while 
the  Confederates  had  more  than  eighteen  thousand  men  on  the 
field. 

The  Confederate  victory  at  Bull  Run  did  the  South  great 
injury  in  that  it  led  vast  numbers  to  believe  the  war  was  over 
and  that  the  South  had  won.  Many  soldiers  went  home  in 
this  belief,  and  for  months  thereafter  it  was  not  easy  to  recruit 
the  Southern  armies.  The  North,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
taught  a  needed  lesson — was  awakened  to  a  sense  of  the  mag 
nitude  of  the  task  before  it. 

The  first  great  battle  of  the  American  Civil  War  brought 
joy  to  the  Confederacy  and  grief  to  the  States  of  the  North. 
As  the  Federal  troops  marched  into  Washington  through  a 
drenching  downpour  of  rain,  on  July  22d,  the  North  was 
shrouded  in  gloom.  But  the  defeated  army  had  not  lost  its 
courage.  The  remnants  of  the  shattered  forces  were  gathered, 
and  from  the  fragments  a  mightier  host  was  to  be  rallied  under 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  to  meet  the  now  victorious  foe  on  future 
battle-grounds. 


Painted  by  Paul  Wilhelmi. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    SHILOH. 


Copyright,  11,01,  by  Perrien-Keydel  Co., 
Detroit,  Mich.,  U.  S.  A. 


FORT  HENRY  AND  FORT  DONELSON 

By  this  brilliant  and  important  victory  Grant's  fame  sprang  sud 
denly  into  full  and  universal  recognition.  President  Lincoln  nominated 
him  major-general  of  volunteers,  and  the  Senate  at  once  confirmed  the 
appointment.  The  whole  military  service  felt  the  inspiriting  event. 
— Xicolay  and  Hay,  in  "  Life  of  Lincoln" 

THE  grasp  of  a  great  section  of  western  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  by  the  Northern  armies,  the  capture  of  a 
stronghold  that  was  thought  impregnable,  the  forced  surrender 
of  a  great  army,  and  the  bringing  into  public  notice  of  a  new 
commander  who  was  destined  to  outshine  all  his  fellows — 
these  were  the  achievements  of  the  short,  vigorous  campaign 
of  Fort  Donelson. 

There  were  two  great  battle-grounds  of  the  Civil  War, 
nearly  a  thousand  miles  apart — Virginia  and  the  valley  of 
the  great  river  that  divides  the  continent — and  the  two  defi 
nite  objects  of  the*  Northern  armies  during  the  first  half  of 
the  war  period  were  to  capture  Richmond  and  to  open  the 
Mississippi.  All  other  movements  and  engagements  were 
subordinate  to  the  dramas  of  these  two  great  theaters,  inci 
dental  and  contributory.  The  South,  on  the  other  hand, 
except  for  the  early  threatening  of  Washington,  the  Get 
tysburg  campaign,  the  raid  of  Morgan  in  Ohio,  and  the 
expeditions  of  Bragg  and  Hood  into  Kentucky  and  Ten 
nessee,  was  on  the  defensive  from  the  beginning  of  the  war 
to  the  end. 

In  the  East  after  the  initial  engagement  at  Bull  Run 
"  all  was  quiet  along  the  Potomac  "  for  some  months.  Mc- 
Clellan  had  loomed  large  as  the  rising  hero  of  the  war;  but 
McClellan  did  not  move  with  the  celerity  that  was  expected 
of  him;  the  North  became  impatient  and  demanded  that 


i 

i 


<!  I 


'//W 


of 


Feb. 
1862 


r>\ 


something  be  done.  But  while  the  public  was  still  waiting  there 
were  two  occurrences  in  the  West  that  riveted  the  attention 
of  the  nation,  sending  a  thrill  of  gladness  through  the  North 
and  a  wave  of  depression  over  the  Southland.  These  were  the 
fall  of  Fort  Henry  and  of  Fort  Donelson. 

After  Missouri  had  been  saved  to  the  Union  in  spite  of 
the  disaster  at  Wilson's  Creek  in  August,  1861,  a  Union  army 
slowly  gathered  in  southern  Illinois.  Its  purpose  was  to  dis 
pute  with  the  Confederates  their  hold  on  Kentucky,  which  had 
not  seceded,  and  to  regain  control  of  the  Mississippi.  To 
secure  the  latter  end  a  flank  movement  was  decided  upon — to 
open  the  mighty  river  by  moving  up  the  Cumberland  and 
Tennessee — the  greatest  flanking  movement  in  the  history  of 
warfare.  It  began  at  Fort  Henry  and  ended  at  Vicksburg, 
covered  a  year  and  five  months,  and  cost  tens  of  thousands  of 
human  lives  and  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  property — but  it 
was  successful. 

Eastern  Kentucky,  in  the  early  days  of  1862,  was  also 
in  considerable  ferment.  Colonel  James  A.  Garfield  had 
driven  the  Confederate  commander,  General  Humphrey  Mar 
shall,  and  a  superior  force  into  the  Cumberland  Mountains, 
after  a  series  of  slight  encounters,  terminating  at  Paintsville 
on  the  Big  Sandy  River,  on  January  10th.  But  one  later 
event  gave  great  encouragement  to  the  North.  It  was  the  first 
substantial  victory  for  the  Union  arms.  General  Zollicoffer 
held  the  extreme  Confederate  right  at  Cumberland  Gap  and 
he  now  joined  General  George  B.  Crittenden  near  Mill 
Springs  in  central  Kentucky.  General  Buell,  in  charge  of  the 
Army  of  the  Ohio,  had  placed  General  George  H.  Thomas 
at  Lebanon,  and  the  latter  promptly  moved  against  this  threat 
ening  Confederate  force.  A  sharp  engagement  took  place  at 
Logan's  Cross  Roads  near  Mill  Springs  on  January  19th.  The 
Confederate  army  was  utterly  routed  and  Zollicoffer  was 
killed.  The  Union  loss  was  about  two  hundred  and  sixty,  and 
the  Confederate  over  twice  that  number.  It  was  not  a  great 


CAPTAIN  CLARK  B.   LAGOW. 

WINNING  HIS  SPURS  AT  CAIRO. 

Few  will  recognize  in  this  early  and 
unusual  photograph  the  man  who  at 
Appomattox,  wore  plain  fatigue  dress 
in  striking  contrast  with  the  fully 
uniformed  Lee.  Here  Grant  appears  in 
his  full-dress  Brigadier-General's  uni 
form  as  he  came  to  Cairo  to  assume 
command  of  a  military  district  includ 
ing  southern  Illinois,  September  4, 
1861.  Grasping  at  once  the  problems 
of  his  new  post  he  began  the  work 
of  reorganization,  assisted  by  a  well- 
chosen  staff.  Without  waiting  for  per 
mission  from  Fremont,  his  immediate 
superior,  Commander  of  the  Department 
of  the  West,  Grant  pushed  forward  a 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


DR.   JAMES  SIMONS. 

force  and  occupied  Paducah,  Kentucky, 
before  the  Confederates,  approach 
ing  with  the  same  purpose,  could  arrive. 
Grant  was  impatient  to  drive  back  the 
Confederate  lines  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  and  began  early  to  importune. 
Washington  to  be  allowed  to  carry  out 
maneuvers.  His  keen  judgment  con 
vinced  him  that  these  must  quickly  be 
made  in  order  to  secure  the  advantage 
in  this  outlying  arena  of  the  war. 
Captain  Rawlins  was  made  Assistant 
Adjutant-General  by  Grant,  and  lifted 
from  his  shoulders  much  of  the  routine 
of  the  post.  Captain  Lagow  and  Cap 
tain  Hillyer  were  two  of  the  General's 
aides-de-camp.  Dr.  James  Simons  was 
Medical  Director  of  the  District. 


CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  S.   HILLYER, 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  A.   RAWLINS. 


Jail  0f 


mtfo  Sfart  i0nel00n 


Feb. 
1862 


battle,  but  its  effect  on  the  North  was  most  stimulating,  and 
the  people  first  learned  to  appreciate  the  abilities  of  their  great 
general,  George  H.  Thomas. 

It  was  now  February,  1862.  General  U.  S.  Grant  was 
in  command  of  the  Union  forces  in  western  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee.  The  opposing  commander  was  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston,  then  reputed  the  ablest  general  of  the  South.  At 
Bowling  Green,  Kentucky,  he  had  thirty  thousand  men.  Be 
lieving,  perhaps,  that  he  could  not  hold  Kentucky,  he  deter 
mined  to  save  Tennessee  for  the  South  and  took  his  stand  at 
Nashville. 

On  February  2d,  1862,  General  Grant  left  Cairo  with 
his  army  of  seventeen  thousand  men  and  on  transports  moved 
up  the  Ohio  and  the  Tennessee  to  attack  Fort  Henry.  Ac 
companying  him  was  Flag-Officer  Foote  with  his  fleet  of  seven 
gunboats,  four  of  them  ironclads. 

Fort  Henry  was  garrisoned  by  an  army  of  about  three 
thousand  men  under  the  command  of  General  Lloyd  Tilghman, 
a  brave  officer  who  was  destined  to  give  his  life  for  the  Confed 
erate  cause,  the  following  year,  near  Vicksburg.  It  covered 
about  three  acres  and  mounted  seventeen  heavy  guns.  Grant's 
plan  of  attack  was  to  land  his  army  four  miles  below  the  fort, 
to  move  across  the  country  and  seize  the  road  leading  to  Fort 
Donelson,  while  Foote  should  move  up  the  river  with  his  fleet 
and  turn  his  guns  on  the  Confederate  batteries. 

On  February  6th,  Foote  formed  his  vessels  into  two  lines, 
the  ironclads — the  Cincinnati.,  the  Carondelet,  the  Essex,  and 
the  St.  Louis — forming  a  front  rank.  Slowly  and  cautiously 
he  approached  the  fort,  firing  as  he  went,  the  guns  on  the 
parapet  answering  those  of  the  fleet.  Several  of  the  Confed 
erate  guns  were  disabled.  The  fleet  was  yet  unhurt  when  the 
first  hour  had  passed.  Then  a  24-pound  shot  struck  the  Essex, 
crashed  through  her  side  and  penetrated  her  boiler,  instantly 
killing  both  her  pilots  and  flooding  the  vessel  from  stem  to 
stern  with  scalding  steam.  The  Essex,  wholly  disabled,  drifted 


^is       ^u 


1 


m  •$ 


TO       ^ 
'  '  •BHI 


CAIRO  CITIZENS  WHO  MAY  HAVE  RECALLED  THIS  DAY. 

With  his  hands  thrust  in  his  pockets  stands  General  Grant,  next  to  General  McClernand,  who  is  directly  in  front  of  the  pillar  of  the 
Cairo  post-office.  The  future  military  leader  had  yet  his  great  name  to  make,  for  the  photograph  of  this  gathering  was  taken  in  Sep 
tember,  1861,  and  when,  later,  the  whole  world  was  ringing  with  his  praises  the  citizens  who  chanced  to  be  in  the  group  must  have 
recalled  that  day  with  pride.  Young  Al  Sloo,  the  postmaster's  son,  leans  against  the  doorway  on  Grant's  right,  and  next  to  him  is 
Bob  Jennings;  then  comes  Dr.  Taggart,  then  Thomas,  the  mason,  and  Jaques,  the  butcher.  On  the  extreme  right,  facin?  the  camera, 
is  young  Bill  Thomas.  Up  in  the  windows  sit  George  Olmstead  and  Will  Smith.  In  his  shirt  sleeves,  on  General  McCI  -nd's  left, 
is  C.  C.  Davidson.  In  the  group  about  him  are  Benjamin  Munn,  Fred  Theobold,  John  Maxey,  and  Phil.  Howard.  >s  these 

men  told  their  children  of  the  morning  that  Grant  left  his  headquarters  at  the  St.  Charles  Hotel  and  met  them  here.     Wh. 


0f  Jfart  3f  wry  mtft  Sfart 


V, 


down  stream,  while  her  companion  ships  continued  their  ad 
vance  and  increased  their  fire. 

Presently,  a  sound  exceeding  the  roar  of  cannon  was  heard 
above  the  tumult.  A  great  gun  in  the  fort  had  exploded, 
killing  or  disabling  every  man  who  served  it.  A  great  10-inch 
columbiad  was  also  destroyed.  Tilghman,  seeing  that  he  had 
no  hope  of  holding  the  fort,  decided  to  save  his  army  by  send 
ing  it  to  Fort  Donelson,  on  the  Cumberland  River.  This  he 
did,  reserving  fewer  than  a  hundred  men  to  work  the  guns. 
He  then  raised  the  white  flag  and  surrendered  the  seventy- 
eight  that  remained.  Grant  had  failed  to  reach  the  road  to 
Fort  Donelson  until  the  Confederates  had  escaped.  The 
Southerners  hastened  across  the  country  and  added  their  num 
bers  to  the  defenders  of  Donelson — and  by  so  doing  they  de 
ferred  surrender  for  ten  days. 

Fort  Donelson  was  a  fortified  enclosure  of  a  hundred 
acres  that  crowded  a  plateau  on  the  Cumberland  River.  It 
was  just  south  of  the  boundary  between  Kentucky  and  Tennes 
see  and  close  by  the  little*  village  of  Dover,  consisting  of  a 
court-house,  a  two-story  tavern,  and  a  few  houses  scattered 
about.  Beneath  the  bluff  and  on  the  river  bank  were  two 
powerful  batteries  commanding  the  approach  to  the  river. 
Outside  the  fort  and  stretching  far  along  the  ridges  that  en 
closed  it  were  rifle-pits,  lines  of  logs  covered  with  yellow  clay. 
Farther  beyond,  the  hillsides  were  covered  with  felled  trees 
whose  interlacing  branches  were  supposed  to  render  the  ap 
proach  of  the  foe  impossible  under  fire. 

At  this  moment  Donelson  was  held  by  eighteen  thousand 
men  under  the  command  of  General  John  B.  Floyd,  late  Sec 
retary  of  War  in  the  cabinet  of  Buchanan.  Next  to  him  were 
Gideon  J.  Pillow  and  Simon  B.  Buckner.  The  Union  army 
under  Grant  was  divided  into  three  parts  under  the  respective 
commands  of  Charles  F.  Smith,  a  veteran  of  the  regular  army; . 
John  A.  McClernand,  an  Illinois  lawyer  and  member  of  Con 
gress,  and  Lew  Wallace,  the  future  author  of  "  Ben  Hur." 


THE  UNLUCKY  ESSEX  AFTER   FORT  HENRY. 


The  thousand-ton  ironclad  Essex  received 
the  severest  punishment  at  Fort  Henry. 
Fighting  blood  surged  in  the  veins  of  Com 
mander  \V.  D.  Porter,  son  of  Admiral 
David  Porter  and  brother  of  Admiral 
David  D.  Porter.  The  gunboat  which 
he  led  into  action  at  Fort  Henry  was 
named  after  the  famous  Essex  which  his1 
father  commanded  in  the  War  of  1812. 
Fifteen  of  the  shots  from  Fort  Henry 
struck  and  told  upon  the  Essex,  the  last 
one  penetrating  her  armor  and  piercing 
her  middle  boiler.  Commander  Porter, 
standing  among  his  men  directing  the  fight, 
was  terribly  scalded  by  the  escaping  steam, 


COMMANDER  W.  D.   PORTER. 


as  were  twenty-seven  others.  Wrong 
ly  suspected  of  disloyalty  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war,  Commander  Porter's  conduct 
during  the  struggle  gave  the  lie  to  such 
calumny.  He  recovered  after  Fort  Henry, 
and  was  made  Commodore  in  July,  1862. 
Again  in  command  of  the  Essex  he  at 
tempted  unsuccessfully  to  destroy  the 
dread  Confederate  ram  Arkansas  at  Vicks- 
burg  on  July  22d.  Porter  and  the  Essex 
then  joined  Farragut's  fleet.  His  shells 
helped  the  Union  forces  to  repulse  the 
Confederates  at  Baton  Rouge,  August  5th, 
and  he  witnessed  the  blowing  up  of  the 
Arkansas  the  following  day.  He  died 
May  1,  1864. 


• 


THE  ESSEX  TWO  YEARS  LATER. 


attft 


With  waving  banners  the  divisions  of  Smith  and  McCler- 
nand  marched  across  country  on  February  12th,  arriving  at 
noon  and  encircling  the  doomed  fort  ere  nightfall.  Smith  was 
stationed  on  the  left  and  McClernand  on  the  extreme  right, 
near  the  village  of  Dover.  This  left  an  open  space  in  the 
center,  to  be  filled  by  Lew  Wallace,  who  arrived  with  his  divi 
sion  the  next  day.  On  the  13th  there  was  a  continuous  bom 
bardment  from  morning  till  night,  punctuated  by  the  sharp 
crack  of  the  sharpshooter's  rifle. 

The  chief  action  of  the  day  that  involved  the  infantry  was 
an  attempt  to  capture  a  battery  on  a  hill,  near  the  center  of 
the  Confederate  line  of  battle,  known  as  Maney's  Battery, 
commanded  by  Captain  Maney,  of  Tennessee.  This  bat 
tery  had  annoyed  McClernand  greatly,  and  he  delegated  his 
third  brigade  to  capture  it.  The  charge  was  led  by  Colonel 
Morrison  of  Illinois,  and  a  braver  one  never  was  made  through 
out  the  whole  period  of  the  war.  The  men  who  made  it  were 
chiefly  youths  from  the  farms  and  workshops  of  Illinois.  With 
no  apparent  thought  of  danger  they  sallied  forth,  determined 
at  all  hazards  to  capture  the  battery  on  the  hill,  which  stood  out 
in  relief  against  the  sky.  As  they  ran  up  the  hill,  firing  as 
they  went,  their  numbers  were  rapidly  thinned  by  the  terrific 
cross-fire  from  this  battery  and  two  others  on  adjoining  hills. 
Still  the  survivors  pushed  on  and  their  deadly  fire  thinned  the 
ranks  of  the  men  at  the  battery.  At  length  when  they  came 
within  forty  yards  of  the  goal  a  long  line  of  Confederate  mus 
ketry  beside  the  battery  suddenly  burst  into  flame  and  a  storm 
of  bullets  cut  down  the  brave  boys  of  Illinois,  with  fearful 
slaughter.  Even  then  they  stood  for  fifteen  minutes,  return 
ing  volley  for  volley,  before  retreating.  Reaching  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  they  rallied  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  returned 
to  the  assault.  Even  a  third  time  they  charged,  but  the  dry 
leaves  on  the  ground  now  caught  fire,  the  smoke  stifled 
them,  and  they  had  to  retreat.  As  they  returned  down 
the  hill,  Lew  Wallace  tells  us,  "  their  ears  and  souls  were 


Feb. 
1862 


1 


THE  GUNBOAT  THAT  FIRED  THE  FIRST  SHOT  AT  FORT  HEXRY. 


Here,  riding  at  anchor,  lies  the  flagship 
of  Foote,  which  opened  the  attack  on 
Fort  Henry  in  the  first  movement  to 
break  the  backbone  of  the  Confederacy, 
and  won  a  victory  before  the  arrival 
of  the  army.  This  gunboat,  the  Cincinnati, 
was  one  of  the  seven  flat-bottom  iron 
clads  built  by  Captain  Eads  at  Carondelet, 
Missouri,  and  Mound  City,  Illinois,  during 
the  latter  half  of  1861.  When  Grant  finally 
obtained  permission  from  General  Halleck 
to  advance  the  attack  upon  Fort  Henry 
on  the  Tennessee  River,  near  the  border  of 
Kentucky,  Flag  Officer  Foote  started  up 
the  river,  February  2,  1862,  convoying  the 
transports,  loaded  with  the  advance  de 
tachment  of  Grant's  seventeen  thousand 
troops.  Arriving  before  Fort  Henry  on 


FLAG-OFFICER  FOOTE. 


February  6th,  the  intrepid  naval  com 
mander  at  once  began  the  bombardment 
with  a  well-aimed  shot  from  the  Cincinnati. 
The  eleven  heavy  guns  of  the  fort  responded 
in  chorus,  and  an  iron  rain  began  to  fall 
with  telling  effect  upon  the  Cincinnati, 
the  Essex,  the  Carondelet,  and  the  St. 
Louis,  which  were  steaming  forward  half  a 
mile  in  advance  of  the  rear  division  of  the 
squadron.  At  a  range  of  1,700  yards  the 
Cincinnati  opened  the  engagement.  After 
a  little  over  an  hour  of  heavy  firing  the 
colors  on  Fort  Henry  were  lowered  and 
General  Tilghman  surrendered  it  to  Flag- 
Officer  Foote.  When  General  Grant  ar 
rived  an  hour  later,  Foote  turned  over  the 
fort  to  him  and  returned  to  Cairo  with  his 
disabled  gunboats. 


JH 

£  Sfall  0f  Sfart  If  ?nrg  anJn  3f0rt  10n^lB0n 

7] 

Feb. 
1862 

\ 


riven  with  the  shrieks  of  their  wounded  comrades,  upon 
whom  the  flames  crept  and  smothered  and  charred  where 
they  lay." 

Thus  ended  the  13th  of  February.  That  night  the  river 
gunboats,  six  in  number,  four  of  them  ironclads,  under  the 
command  of  Andrew  H.  Foote,  arrived.  Grant  had  sent  them 
down  the  Tennessee  to  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Cumberland,  to 
support  his  army  at  Fort  Donelson.  On  the  14th,  about  three 
in  the  afternoon,  Foote  steamed  with  his  four  ironclads  to  a 
point  in  the  river  within  four  hundred  yards  of  the  two  power 
ful  batteries  on  the  river  bank  under  the  fort  and  opened  fire 
with  his  cannon  while  continuing  to  advance.  The  reply  from 
the  Confederate  batteries  was  terrific  and  many  of  their 
shots  struck  home.  In  a  short  time  the  decks  of  the  vessels 
were  slippery  with  human  blood.  Foote  himself  was  severely 
wounded.  At  length  a  solid  shot  struck  the  pilot  house  of  the 
flagship  and  tore  away  the  pilot  wheel.  At  almost  the  same 
moment  another  gunboat  was  disabled.  The  two  vessels,  one 
of  which  had  been  struck  fifty-nine  times,  could  no  longer  be 
managed;  they  turned  about  with  the  eddies  of  the  river  and 
floated  down  with  the  current.  The  others  followed. 

The  Confederates  raised  a  wild  shout  of  joy  at  this,  their 
second  victory  since  the  coming  of  the  Union  army.  But  what 
will  be  the  story  of  the  morrow?  With  the  reenforcements 
brought  by  Foote,  Lew  Wallace's  division,  Grant's  army  was 
now  swelled  to  twenty-seven  thousand,  and  in  spite  of  the 
initial  repulse  the  Federals  felt  confident  of  ultimate  victory. 
But  a  dreary  night  was  before  them.  The  springlike  weather 
had  changed.  All  that  fearful  night  of  February  14th  there  was 
a  fierce,  pitiless  wind  with  driving  sleet  and  snow.  Thousands 
of  the  men,  weary  of  the  burden  of  their  overcoats  and  blan 
kets  during  the  warm  preceding  days,  had  thrown  them  away. 
Now  they  spent  the  night  lying  behind  logs  or  in  ditches  or 
wherever  they  could  find  a  little  protection  from  the  wintry 
blasts.  General  Floyd,  knowing  that  Grant's  army  was  much 


A  GALLANT  GUNBOAT— THE  ST.  LOUIS. 

With  the  shots  from  the  Confederate  batteries  ringing  and  bounding  off 
her  iron  plates,  this  gallant  gunboat  that  Foote  had  chosen  for  his  flag 
ship,  entered  the  zone  of  fire  at  Fort  Donelson.  In  the  confined  space 
of  her  smoke-filled  gun-deck,  the  river  sailors  were  loading  and  firing  the 
heavy  broadsides  as  fast  as  the  great  guns  could  be  run  out  and  aimed 
at  the  frowning  line  of  entrenchments  on  the  river  bank.  From  them 
the  concentrated  hail  of  iron  was  poured  upon  her  and  the  marksman 
ship  was  good.  Fifty-nine  times  was  this  brave  vessel  struck.  But 

• 
her  armored  sides  withstood  the  heavy  shocks  although  the  plating, 

dented  and  bent,  bore  record  of  each  impact.  Nearer  and  nearer  grew 
the  forts  as  up  the  narrow  channel  the  flag-ship  led  the  way,  the  Louis 
ville,  the  Carondelet,  and  the  Pittsburgh  belching  their  fire  at  the  wooded 
heights,  as  though  endeavoring  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  Con 
federate  gunners  to  themselves  and  save  the  flag-ship  from  receiving 
more  than  her  share.  Up  in  the  pilot-house  the  brave  man  who  knew  the 
channel  stood  at  the  wheel,  his  eyes  firmly  fixed  ahead;  and  on  the 
"texas,"  as  the  upper  deck  was  called,  within  speaking  distance  of  him, 
stood  Foote  himself.  A  great  shot,  aimed  accurately  as  a  minie  ball, 
struck  the  frail  pilot-house.  It  was  as  if  the  vessel's  heart  was  pierced. 
The  wheel  was  swept  away  from  the  pilot's  hand  and  the  brave  river 
guide  was  hurled  into  the  corner,  mangled,  bleeding  and  soon  to  die. 
Flag  Officer  Foote  did  not  escape.  He  fell  badly  wounded  in  the  leg 


THE  FLAG-SHIP  ST.   LOUIS  VIEWED 
FROM   ASTERN. 


LOUISVILLE— A  FIGHTER  AT 
THE  FORT. 


by  a  fragment  of  the  shell — a  wound  from  which  he  never  fully  re 
covered.  Helpless  now,  the  current  swept  the  St.  Louis'  bow  around, 
and  past  her  consorts  that  were  still  fighting,  she  drifted  down  the  stream 
and  out  of  action;  later,  in  convoy  of  the  Louisville,  she  returned  to 
Cairo,  leaving  the  Carondelet  and  Pittsburgh  to  escort  the  transports. 
Meanwhile  on  shore,  Grant  was  earning  his  first  laurels  as  a  soldier  in 
a  big  battle.  The  disabling  of  the  gunboats  caused  the  Confederates 
to  make  the  fatal  attack  that  resulted  so  disastrously  for  them.  Assail 
ing  Grant's  right  wing  that  held  a  strong  position,  on  the  15th  of 
February,  19,000  men  were  hurled  against  a  force  8,000  greater  in  number. 
But  the  repulse  was  complete.  Shattered  they  retreated  to  their  works, 
and  in  the  morning  of  the  16th,  the  Confederate  general,  Buckner, 
surrendered.  About  14,000  prisoners  were  taken.  The  Federal  loss 
was  nearly  3,000,  and  that  of  the  Southern  cause  about  1,000  less.  For 
the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson  Grant  was  made  major-general.  The 
first  step  to  the  conquest  of  the  Mississippi  had  been  achieved.  In 
October,  1862,  the  river  fleet  was  transferred  from  the  Army  to  the 
Navy  Department,  and  as  there  was  another  vessel  in  the  service,  bear 
ing  the  same  name  the  St.  Louis  was  renamed  the  Baron  de  Kalb.  At 
Fort  Henry,  she  went  into  action  lashed  to  the  Carondelet  on  account  of 
the  narrowness  of  the  stream;  and  later  again,  the  gallant  gunboat  won 
laurels  at  Island  No.  10,  Fort  Pillow,  Memphis,  and  Vicksburg. 


Wfi- 


stronger  than  his  own,  decided,  after  consulting  with  Pillow 
and  Buckner,  to  attack  the  Union  right  at  dawn  on  the  15th. 

The  night  was  spent  in  preparing  for  this,  and  in  the 
morning  Pillow  with  ten  thousand  men  fell  upon  McClernand, 
and  Buckner  soon  joined  him  with  an  additional  force.  Toward 
noon  many  of  McClernand's  men  ran  short  of  powder  and  he 
wras  forced  to  recede  from  his  position.  Pillow  seems  then  to 
have  lost  his  head.  He  felt  that  the  whole  Union  army  was 
defeated,  and  though  the  road  to  Nashville  was  open,  the 
Confederates  made  no  attempt  to  escape.  Just  then  General 
Grant  rode  upon  the  scene.  He  had  been  absent  all  morning 
down  the  river  consulting  Foote,  not  knowing  that  the  Con 
federates  had  planned  an  escape.  This  moment,  says  Lew 
Wallace,  was  the  crisis  in  the  life  of  Grant. 

Hearing  the  disastrous  news,  his  face  flushed  for  a  mo 
ment;  he  crushed  some  papers  in  his  hand.  Next  instant  he 
was  calm,  and  said  in  his  ordinary  tone,  to  McClernand  and 
Wallace,  "  Gentlemen,  the  position  on  the  right  must  be  re 
taken."  Then  he  galloped  away  to  General  Smith.  In  a  short 
time  the  Union  lines  were  in  motion.  General  Smith  made  a 
grand  assault  on  the  Confederate  outworks  and  rifle-pits. 
When  his  lines  hesitated  Smith  waved  his  cap  on  the  point  of 
his  sword  and  rode  in  front,  up  the  hill,  in  the  hottest  fire  of  the 
foe,  toward  the  rifle-pits — and  they  were  carried.  At  the  same 
moment  Lew  Wallace  was  leading  his  division  up  another 
slope  with  equal  gallantry.  Here  again  the  Confederates  re 
tired,  and  the  road  to  Nashville  was  no  longer  open.  Further 
more,  Smith  held  a  position  from  which  he  could  shell  the  fort 
on  the  inside,  and  nothing  was  left  to  the  inmates  but  surrender 
or  slaughter  on  the  morrow. 

A  council  was  held  by  Floyd,  Pillow,  and  Buckner. 
Buckner,  who  was  a  master  in  the  art  of  warfare,  declared  that 
he  could  not  hold  his  position  for  half  an  hour  in  the  morning. 
The  situation  was  hopeless.  Floyd  was  under  indictment  at 
Washington  for  maladministration  in  the  Buchanan  cabinet. 


i 


THE  ADVENTUROUS  GUNBOAT  CONESTOGA. 

Lying  at  anchor  in  the  Ohio  River  this  little  wooden  gunboat  is  having  the  finishing  touches  put  to  her  equipment  while  her  officers 
and  men  are  impatiently  waiting  for  the  opportunity  to  bring  her  into  action.  A  side-wheel  river  steamer  originally,  she  was  pur 
chased  at  Cincinnati  by  Commander  John  Rodgers  in  the  spring  of  1861  and  speedily  converted  into  a  gunboat.  Her  boilers  and 
steam  pipes  were  lowered  into  the  hold  and  the  oaken  bulwarks  five  inches  thick  which  we  see  were  put  on  her  and  pierced  for  guns. 
She  got  her  first  taste  of  fighting  when,  at  Lucas  Bend,  she  engaged  the  land  batteries  and  a  Confederate  gunboat,  September  10,  1861. 
She  was  present  at  Fort  Henry  in  the  second  division  of  the  attacking  fleet,  and  also  at  Fort  Donelson. 


THE    TYLER 
A  sister-ship  of  the  Coneatoga.     She  was  present  both  at  Fort  Henry  and  Fort  Donelson. 


He  declared  that  he  must  not  be  taken,  and  that  with  his  Vir 
ginia  troops  he  would  escape  on  two  little  hoats  that  were  to 
arrive  from  Nashville  in  the  morning.  He  passed  the  com 
mand  to  Pillow,  and  Pillow,  declaring  that  he  too  would 
escape,  passed  it  on  to  Buckner.  Floyd  and  Pillow  with  their 
men  made  good  their  escape;  so  did  Colonel  Forrest,  the  cav 
alry  leader,  and  his  mounted  force. 

In  the  early  morning  Buckner  sent  a  note  to  Grant  offer 
ing  to  capitulate.  The  answer  is  well  known.  Grant  de 
manded  "  unconditional  surrender,"  and  added,  "  I  propose 
to  move  immediately  on  your  works."  Buckner  was  too  good 
a  soldier  to  sacrifice  his  men  in  needless  slaughter.  His  men 
were  so  worn  with  eighty-four  hours  of  fighting  and  watching 
that  many  of  them  had  fallen  asleep  while  standing  in  battle- 
line  and  under  fire.  He  accepted  the  "  ungenerous  and  un- 
chivalrous  terms,"  as  he  pronounced  them,  and  surrendered 
Fort  Donelson  and  the  army,  consisting  of  at  least  fourteen 
thousand  men,  with  all  its  stores  of  ammunition.  The  Union 
loss  was  over  twenty-eight  hundred  men.  The  Confederate 
loss,  killed  and  wounded,  was  about  two  thousand. 

The  capture  of  Fort  Donelson  did  three  things.  First, 
it  opened  up  the  way  for  the  Federal  army  to  penetrate  the 
heart  of  the  western  South  and  gave  it  control  of  Kentucky 
and  of  western  Tennessee.  Second,  it  electrified  the  North 
with  confident  hopes  of  ultimate  success.  It  was  the  first  great 
victory  for  the  North  in  the  war.  Bull  Run  had  been  a  moral 
victory  to  the  South,  but  the  vanquished  were  weakened 
scarcely  more  than  the  victors.  At  Donelson,  the  victors  gained 
control  of  an  extensive  territory  and  captured  a  noble  army 
which  could  ill  be  spared  by  the  South  and  which  could  not  be 
replaced.  Third,  the  capture  of  Donelson  forced  before  the 
nation  a  new  man — Ulysses  S.  Grant. 


The  Captured  Commanders  of  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson. — It  requires  as  much  moral 
courage  to  decide  upon  a  surrender,  even  when 
odds  are  overwhelming,  as  it  does  physical 
bravery,  in  maintaining  a  useless  fight  to  the 
death.  Brigadier-General  Tilghman,  who  com 
manded  the  Confederate  Fort  Henry  on  the 
Tennessee  and  General  Simon  Bolivar  Buckner 
in  command  of  the  Confederate  Fort  Donelson 
— a  much  stronger  position  on  the  Cumberland 
only  a  few  miles  away — were  men  who  pos 
sessed  this  kind  of  courage.  Both  had 
the  misfortune  to  hold  untenable  positions. 
Each  displayed  generalship  and  sagacity  and 
only  gave  up  to  the  inevitable  when  holding 
out  meant  nothing  but  wasted  slaughter  and 
the  sacrifice  of  men  who  had  been  called  upon 
to  exert  every  human  effort.  Fort  Henry,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Tennessee,  was  held  by  a  few 
thousand  men  and  strongly  armed  with 
twenty  guns  including  one  10-inch  Columbiad. 
But  on  the  6th  of  February  it  fairly  lay  in 
the  possession  of  the  Federals  before  a  shot 
had  actually  been  fired,  for  Grant  with  17,000 
men  had  gained  the  rear  of  the  fortification 
after  his  move  from  Cairo  on  the  30th  of  the 
previous  month.  The  actual  reduction  of  the 
fort  was  left  to  the  gunboat  flotilla  under 
Flag  Officer  Foote,  whose  heavy  bombard 
ment  began  early  in  the  morning.  •  General 
Tilghman  had  seen  from  the  first  that  the 
position  could  not  be  held.  He  was  trapped 
on  all  sides,  but  he  would  not  give  way  without 
a  display  of  resistance.  Before  the  firing  be 
gan,  he  had  sent  off  most  of  the  garrison  and 
maintained  the  unequal  combat  with  the  gun 
boats  for  an  hour  and  a  quarter  with  bs3  than 
a  hundred  men,  of  whom  he  lost  twenty-one. 
Well  did  this  handful  serve 
the  guns  on  the  river  bank. 
One  shot  struck  the  gun 
boat  Essex,  piercing  her 
boilers,  and  wounding  and 
scalding  twenty-eight  men. 
But  at  last,  enveloped  on 
all  sides,  his  retreat  cut  off 
— the  troops  who  haci  been 
ordered  to  depart  in  the 
morning ,  some  >;hree 
thousand  in  number,  had 
reached  Fort  Donelson, 
twelve  miles  away — General 
Tilghman  hauled  down  his 
flag,  surrendering  himself 
and  eighty-four  men  as 
prisoners  of  war.  Here  ws 
see  him — a  brave  figure  of 
a  man — clad  in  the  uniform 
of  a  Southern  Colonel. 
There  was  never  the  slight 
est  doubt  of  his  courage  or 
of  his  proper  discretion  in 
making  this  surrender.  Only 
for  a  short  time  was  he  held 
a  prisoner,  when  he  was 
exchanged  and  welcomed 
back  with  all  honor  into 
the  ranks  of  the  Confeder 
acy,  and  given  an  impor 
tant  command.  He  did  not, 
however,  live  long  to  serve 
his  cause,  for  shortly  after 
rejoining  the  army  he  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of 
Baker's  Creek,  Mississippi, 
on  the  16th  of  May,  1863. 


GENERAL   FLOYD  TILGHMAN. 

TWO  UNWILLING  GUESTS  OF 
THE  NORTH. 


BUCKNER,    TliE   DEFENDER   OF  DONELSON. 


It  is  not  often  that  on  the  battlefield  ties  of 
friendship  are  cemented  that  last  a  lifetime, 
and  especially  is  this  so  between  conqueror  and 
conquered.  Fort  Donelson,  that  was,  in  a 
measure,  a  repetition  of  Fort  Henry,  saw  two 
fighting  foes  become  thus  united.  It  was  im 
possible  for  the  garrison  of  Fort  Donelson  to 
make  its  escape  after  the  flotilla  of  gunboats 
had  once  appeared  in  the  river,  although 
General  Floyd,  its  senior  commander,  the 
former  Secretary  of  War  under  President 
Buchanan,  had  withdrawn  himself  from  the 
scene  tendering  the  command  to  General 
Pillow,  who  in  his  turn,  after  escaping  with 
his  own  brigade,  left  the  desperate  situation 
to  be  coped  with  by  General  Buckner.  Assailed 
in  the  rear  by  an  army  that  outnumbered  the 
defenders  of  the  fort  by  nearly  eight  thousand 
and  with  the  formidable  gunboats  hammering 
his  entrenchments  from  the  river,  Buckner 
decided  to  cut  his  way  out  in  a  desperate 
charge,  but  being  repulsed,  saw  his  men  flung 
back  once  more  into  the  fort.  There  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  make  terms.  On  Febru 
ary  16th,  in  a  note  to  Grant  he  asked  what 
might  be  granted  him.  Here,  the  coming 
leader  won  his  nickname  of  "Unconditional 
Surrender"  Grant.  Buckner  was  informed 
that  the  Federal  army  was  about  to  move 
upon  his  works.  Hurt  and  smarting  under 
his  position,  he  sent  back  a  reply  that  in  a 
few  short  hours  he  would,  perhaps,  have  been 
willing  to  recall.  Yielding  to  circumstances  he 
accepted  what  he  bluntly  pronounced,  "un 
generous  and  unchivalrous  terms."  But  when 
the  capitulation  had  taken 
place  and  nearly  fifteen 
thousand  men  had  surren 
dered,  a  greater  number 
than  ever  before  laid  down 
their  arms  upon  the  conti 
nent,  Grant  was  so  generous, 
that  then  and  there  began 
the  friendship  that  grew  as 
close  as  if  the  two  men  wrere 
brothers  of  the  blood.  Most 
of  the  prisoners  were  pa 
roled.  Each  one  was  al 
lowed  to  retain  his  personal 
baggage,  and  the  officers  to 
keep  their  side  arms.  Grant 
had  known  Buckner  in 
the  Mexican  \Var,  and  re 
ceived  him  after  the  battle 
as  his  guest.  For  a  short 
time  General  Buckner  was 
kept  a  prisoner  at  Fort 
Warren  until  he  was  ex 
changed.  But  the  friend 
ship  between  the  two  leaders 
continued.  When  General 
Grant,  after  having  been 
twice  President,  failed  in 
his  business  career,  Buckner 
sent  him  a  check,  trusting 
that  it  might  be  of  use  in 
his  time  of  trouble.  Grant, 
shortly  before  his  death, 
wrote  his  old-time  comrade 
and  antagonist  requesting 
that  Buckner  do  him  the 
final  honors  by  becoming 
one  of  his  pallbearers. 


SHILOH—  THE  FIRST  GRAND  BATTLE 


v 


No  Confederate  who  fought  at  Shiloh  has  ever  said  that  he  found 
any  point  on  that  bloody  field  easy  to  assail.  —  Colonel  William  Preston 
Johnston  (Son  of  the  Confederate  General,  Albert  Sidney  Johnston^  kitted  at 
Shiloh). 

IN  the  history  of  America  many  battles  had  been  fought,  but 
the  greatest  of  them  were  skirmishes  compared  with  the 
gigantic  conflicts  of  the  Old  World  under  Marlborough  and 
Napoleon.  On  the  field  of  Shiloh,  for  the  first  time,  two  great 
American  armies  were  to  engage  in  a  mighty  struggle  that 
would  measure  up  to  the  most  important  in  the  annals  of  Eu 
rope.  And  the  pity  of  it  was  that  the  contestants  were  brethren 
of  the  same  household,  not  hereditary  and  unrelenting  enemies. 
At  Fort  Donelson  the  western  South  was  not  slain  —  it  was 
only  wounded.  The  chief  commander  of  that  part  of  the  coun 
try,  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  determined  to  concentrate  the 
scattered  forces  and  to  make  a  desperate  effort  to  retrieve  the 
disaster  of  Donelson.  He  had  abandoned  Bowling  Green,  had 
given  up  Nashville,  and  now  decided  to  collect  his  troops  at 
Corinth,  Mississippi.  Next  in  command  to  Johnston  was  Gen 
eral  Beauregard  who  fought  at  Bull  Run,  and  who  had  come 
from  Virginia  to  aid  Johnston.  There  also  came  Braxton 
Bragg,  whose  name  had  become  famous  through  the  laconic 
expression,  "  A  little  more  grape,  Captain  Bragg,"  uttered  by 
Zachary  Taylor  at  Buena  Vista;  Leonidas  Polk  who,  though 
a  graduate  of  West  Point,  had  entered  the  church  and  for 
twenty  years  before  the  war  had  been  Episcopal  bishop  of 
Louisiana,  and  John  C.  Breckinridge,  former  Vice  President 
of  the  United  States.  The  legions  of  the  South  were  gath 
ered  at  Corinth  until,  by  the  1st  of  April,  1862,  they  num 
bered  forty  thousand. 


A  brilliant  Southern  leader,  whose  early 
loss  was  a  hard  blow  to  the  Confederacy. 
Albert  Sidney  Johnston  was  a  born  fighter 
with  a  natural  genius  for  war.  A  West 
Pointer  of  the  Class  of  '26,  he  had  led  a 
strenuous  and  adventurous  life.  In  the 
early  Indian  wars,  in  the  border  conflicts 
in  Texas,  and  in  the  advance  into  Mexico, 
he  had  always  proved  his  worth,  his 
bravery  and  his  knowledge  as  a  soldier. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  had 
already  been  brevetted  Brigadier-General, 
and  had  been  commander  of  the  military 
district  of  Utah.  An  ardent  Southerner, 
he  made  his  choice,  dictated  by  heart  and 
conscience,  and  the  Federal  authorities 


GENERAL  A.  S.  JOHNSTON,  C.  S.  A. 


knew  the  loss  they  would  sustain  and  tBe 
gain  that  would  be  given  to  the  cause  of 
the  Confederacy.  In  'Gl  he  was  as 
signed  to  a  district  including  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee  with  the  rank  of  General. 
At  once  he  displayed  his  gifts  as  an  or 
ganizer,  but  Shiloh  cut  short  a  career  that 
would  have  led  him  to  a  high  place  in  fame 
and  history.  The  early  Confederate  suc 
cesses  of  the  6th  of  April  were  due  to  his 
leadership.  His  manner  of  death  and 
his  way  of  meeting  it  attested  to  his 
bravery.  Struck  by  a  minie  ball,  he  kept 
in  the  saddle,  falling  exhausted  and  dying 
from  the  loss  of  blood.  His  death  put  the 
whole  South  into  mourning. 


CAMP  OF  THE  NINTH  MISSISSIPPI. 

Southern  soldiers  in  shirtsleeves  a  few  months  before  they  fought  bravely  at   Shiloh. 

General  Chalmers,  waving  the  flag  of  this  regiment,  led  it  in 

a  gallant  charge  on  the  second  day. 


To  no  one  who  was  close  to  him  in  the 
stirring  scenes  of  the  early  conflict  in  the 
West  did  Grant  pay  higher  tribute  than  to 
this  veteran  of  the  Mexican  War  who  was 
his  Chief  of  Staff.     He  was  a  man  to  be 
relied  upon  in  counsel  and  in  emergency, 
a  fact  that  the  coming  leader  recognized 
from  the  very  outset.     An.  artillery  officer 
and  engineer,  his  military   training  and 
I  practical  experience   made   him  a  most 
valuable  executive.     He  had  also  the  gift 
I  of  leading  men  and  inspiring  confidence. 
I  Always  cool  and  collected  in  the  face  of 
I  danger,  and  gifted  with  a  personality  that 
U  won  friends  everywhere,  the  reports  of  all 
I  of  his  superiors  show  the  trust  and  con 
fidence   that  were   reposed  hi  him.     In 


BRIG.-GEN.  J.  D.  WEBSTER 


April,  1861,  he  had  taken  charge  of  the 
fortifications  at  Cairo,  Illinois.  He  was 
with  Grant  at  Paducah,  at  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson,  and  at  Shiloh  where  he 
collected  the  artillery  near  the  Landing 
that  repelled  the  final  Confederate  attack 
on  April  6th.  He  remained  Chief  of 
Staff  until  October,  1862.  On  October 
14th,  he  was  made  a  Brigadier-General  of 
Volunteers,  and  was  appointed  superin 
tendent  of  military  railroads  in  the  De 
partment  of  Tennessee.  Later  he  was 
Chief  of  Staff  to  General  Sherman,  and 
again  proved  his  worth  when  he  was  with 
General  Thomas  at  Hood's  defeat  before 
Nashville  in  December,  1864.  On  March 
13, 1865,  he  received  the  brevet  of  Major- 
General  of  Volunteers. 


April 
1862 


Meantime,  the  Union  army  had  moved  southward  and  was 
concentrating  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  Tennessee  River, 
an  obscure  stopping  place  for  boats  in  southern  Tennessee, 
and  some  twenty  miles  northeast  from  Corinth.  The  name 
means  more  now  than  merely  a  landing  place  for  river  craft. 
It  was  clear  that  two  mighty,  hostile  forces  were  drawing  to 
gether  and  that  ere  long  there  would  be  a  battle  of  tremen 
dous  proportions,  such  as  this  Western  hemisphere  had  not 
then  known. 

General  Grant  had  no  idea  that  the  Confederates  would 
meet  him  at  Pittsburg  Landing.  He  believed  that  they  would 
wait  for  an  attack  on  their  entrenchments  at  Corinth.  The 
position  his  army  occupied  at  the  Landing  was  a  kind  of  quad 
rilateral,  enclosed  on  three  sides  by  the  river  and  several  small 
streams  that  flow  into  it.  As  the  early  days  of  April  passed 
there  were  ominous  rumors  of  the  coming  storm;  but  Grant 
was  so  sure  that  Johnston  would  not  attack  that  he  spent  the 
night  of  the  5th  of  April  at  Savannah,  some  miles  down  the 
Tennessee  River. 

It  was  Saturday  night.  For  two  weeks  the  Union  troops 
had  occupied  the  undulating  tableland  that  stretched  away 
from  the  river  at  the  Landing.  There  was  the  sound  of  the 
plashing  streams  overflowing  from  recent  rains,  there  were 
revelry  and  mirth  around  the  thousand  camp-fires;  but  there 
was  no  sound  to  give  warning  of  the  coming  of  forty  thou 
sand  men,  who  had  for  two  days  been  drawing  nearer  with  a 
steady  tread,  and  during  this  night  were  deploying  around 
the  Union  camp,  only  a  mile  away.  There  was  nothing  to 
indicate  that  the  inevitable  clash  of  arms  was  but  a  few  hours 
in  the  future. 

At  the  dawn  of  day  on  Sunday,  April  6th,  magnificent 
battle-lines,  under  the  Confederate  battle-flag,  emerged  from 
the  woods  on  the  neighboring  hills  within  gunshot  of  the  Fed 
eral  camps.  Whether  the  Union  army  was  really  surprised 
has  been  the  subject  of  long  controversy,  which  we  need  not 


WAITING  FOR  THE  SMELL  OF  POWDER— CONFEDERATES  BEFORE  SHILOH 

Some  very  youthful  Louisiana  soldiers  waiting  for  their  first  taste  of  battle,  a  few  weeks  before  Shiloh.     These  are  members  of  ' 
Washington  Artillery  of  New  Orleans.     We  see  them  at  Camp  Louisiana  proudly  wearing  their  new  boots  and  their  uniforms  a 
unfaded  by  the  sun.     Louisiana  gave  liberally  of  her  sons,  who  distinguished  themselves  in  the  fighting  throughout  the  i,  ^i.     .».*;<_ 
Fifth  Company  of  the  \Vushingtcn  Artillery  took  part  in  the  closely  contested  Battle  of  Shiloh.    The  Confederates  defeated  Sherman's 
troops  in  the  early  morning,  and  by  night  were  in  possession  of  all  the  Federal  camps  save  one.    The  Washington  Artillery  served  their 
guns  handsomely  and  helped  materially  in  forcing  the  Federals  back  to  the  bank  of  the  river.     The  timely  arrival  of  Buell's  army 
the  next  day  at  Pittsburg  Landing  enabled  Grant  to  recover  from  the  reverses  suffered  on  that  bloody  "first  day" — Sunday,  April  6, 18G2. 


3Firat 


April 
1862 


enter.  Certainly,  the  attack  on  it  was  most  sudden,  and  in  con 
sequence  it  fought  on  the  defensive  and  at  a  disadvantage 
throughout  the  day. 

General  Hardee's  corps,  forming  the  first  line  of  battle, 
moved  against  the  outlying  division  of  the  Union  army,  which 
was  commanded  by  General  Benjamin  Prentiss,  of  West  Vir 
ginia.  Before  Prentiss  could  form  his  lines  Hardee's  shells 
began  bursting  around  him,  but  he  was  soon  ready  and,  though 
pressed  back  for  half  a  mile  in  the  next  two  or  three  hours,  his 
men  fought  like  heroes.  Meanwhile  the  further  Confederate 
advance  under  Bragg,  Polk,  and  Breckinridge  was  extending 
all  along  the  line  in  front  of  the  Federal  camps.  The  second 
Federal  force  to  encounter  the  fury  of  the  oncoming  foe  was 
the  division  of  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  which  was  cut  to 
pieces  and  disorganized,  but  only  after  it  had  inflicted  frightful 
loss  on  the  Confederate  army. 

General  Grant,  as  we  have  noted,  spent  the  night  at 
Savannah,  a  town  nine  miles  by  way  of  the  river  from  Pitts- 
burg  Landing.  As  he  sat  at  breakfast,  he  heard  the  distant 
boom  of  cannon  and  he  quickly  realized  that  Johnston's  army 
had  attacked  his  own  at  the  Landing.  Instantly  he  took  a  boat 
and  started  for  the  scene  of  the  conflict.  At  Crump's  Landing, 
about  half  way  between  the  two,  General  Lew  Wallace  was 
stationed  with  a  division  of  seven  thousand  men.  As  Grant 
passed  Crump's  Landing,  he  met  Wallace  and  ordered  him  to 
be  ready  for  instant  marching  when  he  was  called  for.  When 
Grant  arrived  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  about  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  he  found  a  tremendous  battle  raging,  and  he  spent 
the  day  riding  from  one  division  commander  to  another,  giving 
directions  and  cheering  them  on  as  best  he  could. 

About  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  Landing  stood  a  little 
log  church  among  the  trees,  in  which  for  years  the  simple 
folk  of  the  countryside  had  been  wont  to  gather  for  worship 
every  Sunday  morning.  But  on  this  fateful  Sunday,  the 
demon  of  war  reigned  supreme.  The  little  church  was  known 


i 


j..— M*^-, 

T^I^-        =k    ^^ff"?*? 


COPYRIGHT,   1911,  REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS    CO. 


"ON  THE  SLOPES  OF  SHILOH  FIELD' 

PITTSBURG   LANDING — A   FEW   DAYS  AFTER   THE   BATTLE 

By  the  name  of  "Pittsburg  Landing,"  this  Tennessee  River  point,  Southerners  designate  the  con 
flict  of  April  6  and  7,  1862.  The  building  upon  the  left  and  one  farther  up  the  bank  were  the  only 
ones  standing  at  the  time  of  the  battle.  Of  the  six  steamers,  the  name  of  the  Tycoon,  which  brought 
hospital  supplies  from  the  Cincinnati  branch  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  is  visible.  Johnston's 
plan  in  the  attack  on  the  Federal  forces  was  to  pound  away  on  their  left  until  they  were  driven  away 
from  the  Landing  and  huddled  in  the  angle  between  the  Tennessee  River  and  Snake  Creek.  The 
onset  of  the  Confederates  was  full  of  dash.  Sherman  was  at  length  driven  from  Shiloh  Church, 
and  the  command  of  Prentiss  was  surrounded  and  forced  to  surrender.  It  looked  as  if  Johnston 
would  crush  the  left.  Just  at  this  point  he  was  struck  down  by  a  minie-ball  from  the  last  line  of  a 
Federal  force  that  he  had  victoriously  driven  back.  The  success  of  the  day  now  begins  to  tell  on 
the  Confederate  army.  Many  of  the  lines  show  great  gaps.  But  the  men  in  gray  push  vigorously 
toward  the  point  where  these  boats  lie  anchored.  Some  heavy  guns  are  massed  near  this  point. 
Reinforcements  are  arriving  across  the  river,  but  General  Beauregard,  who  succeeds  Johnston  in 
command,  suspends  the  battle  till  the  morrow.  During  the  night  24,000  fresh  troops  are  taken 
across  the  river  by  the  transports  here  pictured.  They  successfully  withstand  the  attempt  of  Beaure 
gard,  and  with  the  arrival  of  Lew  Wallace  from  up  the  river  victory  shifts  to  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 


April 
1862 


as  Shiloh  to  all  the  country  around,  and  it  gave  its  name  to  the 
great  battle  that  raged  near  it  on  that  memorable  day. 

General  Prentiss  had  borne  the  first  onset  of  the  morning. 
He  had  been  pressed  back  half  a  mile.  But  about  nine  o'clock, 
after  being  reenforced,  he  made  a  stand  on  a  wooded  spot  with 
a  dense  undergrowth,  and  here  he  held  his  ground  for  eight 
long  hours,  until  five  in  the  afternoon,  when  he  and  a  large 
portion  of  his  division  were  surrounded  and  compelled  to  sur 
render.  Time  after  time  the  Confederates  rushed  upon  his 
position,  but  only  to  be  repulsed  with  fearful  slaughter.  This 
spot  came  to  be  known  as  the  "  Hornet's  Nest."  It  was  not 
far  from  here  that  the  Confederates  suffered  the  irreparable 
loss  of  the  day.  Their  noble  commander,  Albert  Sidney  Johns 
ton,  received  his  death  wound  as  he  was  urging  his  troops  to 
force  back  Hurlbut's  men.  He  was  riding  in  the  center  of 
the  fight,  cheering  his  men,  when  a  minie  ball  cut  an  artery  of 
his  thigh.  The  wound  was  not  necessarily  fatal.  A  surgeon 
could  easily  have  saved  him.  But  he  thought  only  of  victory 
and  continued  in  the  saddle,  raising  his  voice  in  encouragement 
above  the  din  of  battle.  Presently  his  voice  became  faint,  a 
deadly  pallor  blanched  his  cheek.  He  was  lifted  from  his 
horse,  but  it  was  too  late.  In  a  few  minutes  the  great  com 
mander  was  dead,  from  loss  of  blood. 

The  death  of  Johnston,  in  the  belief  of  many,  changed  the 
result  at  Shiloh  and  prevented  the  utter  rout  or  capture  of 
Grant's  army.  One  of  Johnston's  subordinates  wrote:  "  Johns 
ton's  death  was  a  tremendous  catastrophe.  Sometimes  the 
hopes  of  millions  of  people  depend  upon  one  head  and  one  arm. 
The  West  perished  with  Albert  Sidney  Johnston  and  the 
Southern  country  followed."  Jefferson  Davis  afterward  de 
clared  that  "  the  fortunes  of  a  country  hung  by  a  single  thread 
on  the  life  that  was  yielded  on  the  field  of  Shiloh." 

Beauregard  succeeded  to  the  command  on  the  fall  of 
Johnston  and  the  carnage  continued  all  the  day — till  dark 
ness  was  falling  over  the  valleys  and  the  hills.  The  final  charge 


THE  LEXINGTON 

merit,  and  in  connection  with  the  field  batteries  on  the  bank  checked  General  Withers' 
less  brigade  of  Chalmers,  whose  brave  Southerners  held  their  ground  near  the  foot  of 
battle  was  ended  elsewhere,  was  swept  by 
the  gunboats'  fire.  When  Buell's  army, 
that  had  been  hurrying  up  to  Grant's 
assistance,  reached  the  battle-field,  Gwin 
sent  a  messenger  ashore  in  the  evening  to 
General  Nelson,  who  had  just  arrived,  and 
asked  in  what  manner  he  could  now  be  of 
service.  It  was  pitch  dark;  except  for  the 
occasional  firing  of  the  pickets  the  armies 
were  resting  after  the  terrific  combat.  In 
reply  to  Gwin's  inquiry,  General  Nelson 
requested  that  the  gunboats  keep  on  firing 
during  the  night,  and  that  every  ten  min 
utes  an  8-inch  shell  should  be  launched  in 
the  direction  of  the  Confederate  camp. 
With  great  precision  Gwin  followed  out 
this  course.  Through  the  forest  the  shells 
shrieked  and  exploded  over  the  exhausted 
Confederates,  showering  branches  and 
limbs  upon  them  where  they  slept,  and 
tearing  great  gashes  in  the  earth.  The  re 
sult  was  that  they  got  little  rest,  and  rest 
was  necessary.  Slowly  a  certain  demoral 
ization  became  evident — results  that  bore 
fruit  in  the  action  that  opened  on  the 
morrow.  Here  we  see  pictured — in  the 
lower  part  of  the  page — the  captain's  gig 
and  crew  near  the  Lexington,  ready  to 
row  their  commander  out  into  the  stream. 


THE  GUNBOATS  AT  SHILOH 

In  the  river  near  Pittsburg  Landing,  where 
the  Federal  transports  lay,  were  two  small 
gunboats,  and  what  they  did  during  the 
battle  of  April  6th  makes  a  separate  chap 
ter  in  the  action.  In  the  early  morn 
ing  they  were  out  of  sight,  though  within 
sound  of  the  continuous  firing.  How  the 
battle  was  going,  however,  was  evident. 
The  masses  of  the  blue-clad  troops  appeared 
through  the  trees  on  the  river  bank,  showing 
that  underthe  continuous  and  fierce  assaults 
they  were  falling  back  upon  the  Landing. 
The  Tyler,  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Gwin,  and  afterward  the  Lexington,  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant  Shirk,  which  arrived 
at  four  o'clock,  strove  to  keep  the  Con 
federate  army  from  the  Landing.  After 
the  surrender  of  Prentiss,  General  With 
ers  set  his  division  in  motion  to  the  right 
toward  this  point.  Chalmers'  and  Jack 
son's  brigades  marched  into  the  ravine  of 
Dill's  Branch  and  into  the  range  of  tne 
Federal  gunboats  and  batteries  which 
silenced  Gage's  battery,  the  only  one 
Withers  had,  and  played  havoc  with  the 
Confederate  skirmishers.  All  the  rest  of 
the  afternoon,  until  nightfall,  the  river 
sailors  kept  up  their  continuous  bombard- 
desperate  attempt  on  the  Landing.  The  daunt- 
the  ravine  and  maintained  the  conflict  after  the 


April 
1862 


v 


1 


of  the  evening  was  made  by  three  Confederate  brigades  close  to 
the  Landing,  in  the  hope  of  gaining  that  important  point.  But 
by  means  of  a  battery  of  many  guns  on  the  bluff  of  Dill's 
Branch,  aided  by  the  gunboats  in  the  river,  the  charge  was 
repulsed.  Beauregard  then  gave  orders  to  desist  from  further 
attack  all  along  his  lines,  to  suspend  operations  till  morning. 
When  General  Bragg  heard  this  he  was  furious  with  rage. 
He  had  counted  on  making  an  immediate  grand  assault  in  the 
darkness,  believing  that  he  could  capture  a  large  part  of  the 
Federal  army. 

When  the  messenger  informed  him  of  Beauregard's  order, 
he  inquired  if  he  had  already  delivered  it  to  the  other  com 
manders.  '  Yes,"  was  the  reply.  '  If  you  had  not,"  rejoined 
the  angry  Bragg,  "  I  would  not  obey  it.  The  battle  is  lost." 
But  Bragg's  fears  were  not  shared  by  his  compatriots. 

Further  mention  is  due  the  two  little  wooden  gunboats, 
Tyler  and  Lexington,  for  their  share  in  the  great  fight.  The 
Tyler  had  lain  all  day  opposite  the  mouth  of  Dill's  Branch 
which  flowed  through  a  deep,  marshy  ravine,  into  the  Tennes 
see  just  above  the  Landing.  Her  commander,  Lieutenant 
Gwin,  was  eager  for  a  part  in  the  battle,  and  when  he  saw  the 
Confederate  right  pushing  its  way  toward  the  Landing,  he  re 
ceived  permission  to  open  fire.  For  an  hour  his  guns  increased 
the  difficulties  of  Jackson's  and  Chalmers'  brigades  as  they 
made  their  way  to  the  surrounding  of  Prentiss.  Later  on  the 
Lexington  joined  her  sister,  and  the  two  vessels  gave  valuable 
support  to  the  Union  cannon  at  the  edge  of  the  ravine  and 
to  Hurlbut's  troops  until  the  contest  ended.  All  that  night, 
in  the  downpour  of  rain,  Lieutenant  Gwin,  at  the  request  of 
General  Nelson,  sent  shot  crashing  through  the  trees  in  the 
direction  where  the  Confederates  had  bivouacked.  This  com 
pletely  broke  the  rest  of  the  exhausted  troops,  and  had  a  de 
cided  effect  upon  the  next  day's  result. 

Southern  hopes  were  high  at  the  close  of  this  first  bloody 
day  at  Shiloh.  Whatever  of  victory  there  was  at  the  end  of  the 


MM 


> 

fA 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


FOURTEENTH  IOWA  VETERANS 
AT  LIBBY  PRISON,   RICHMOND,   IN   1862,  ON  THEIR  WAY  TO  FREEDOM 

In  the  battle  of  Shiloh  the  Fourteenth  Iowa  Infantry  formed  part  of  that  self-constituted  forlorn  hope  which 
made  the  victory  of  April  7,  1862,  possible.  It  held  the  center  at  the  "Hornet's  Nest,"  fighting  the  live-long 
day  against  fearful  odds.  Just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  Colonel  William  T.  Shaw,  seeing  that  he  was  surrounded 
and  further  resistance  useless,  surrendered  the  regiment.  These  officers  and  men  were  held  as  prisoners  of  war 
until  October  12,  1862,  when,  moving  by  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  Annapolis,  Maryland,  they  went  to  Benton 
Barracks,  Missouri,  being  released  on  parole,  and  were  declared  exchanged  on  the  19th  of  November.  This 
photograph  was  taken  while  they  were  held  at  Richmond,  opposite  the  cook-houses  of  Libby  Prison.  The 
third  man  from  the  left  in  the  front  row,  standing  with  his  hand  grasping  the  lapel  of  his  coat,  is  George 
Marion  Smith,  a  descendant  of  General  M&rion  of  Revolutionary  fame.  It  is  through  the  courtesy  of  his 
son,  N.  H.  Smith,  that  this  photograph  appears  here.  The  Fourteenth  Iowa  Infantry  was  organized  at 
Davenport  and  mustered  in  November  6,  1861.  At  Shiloh  the  men  were  already  veterans  of  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson.  Those  who  were  not  captured  fought  in  the  battle  of  Corinth,  and  after  the  prisoners  were 
exchanged  they  took  part  in  the  Red  River  expedition  and  several  minor  engagements.  They  were  mustered 
out  November  16,  1864,  when  the  veterans  and  recruits  were  consolidated  in  two  companies  and  assigned 
to  duty  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  till  August,  1865.  These  two  companies  were  mustered  out  on  August  8th. 
The  regiment  lost  during  service  five  officers  and  fifty-nine  enlisted  men  killed  and  mortally  wounded, 
and  one  officer  and  138  enlisted  men  by  disease.  Iowa  sent  nine  regiments  of  cavalry,  four  batteries 
of  light  artillery  and  fifty-one  regiments  of  infantry  to  the  Union  armies,  a  grand  total  of  76,242  soldiers. 


day  belonged  to  the  Confederates.  They  had  pressed  the 
Federals  back  more  than  a  mile  and  now  occupied  their  ground 
and  tents  of  the  night  before.  They  had  captured  General 
Prentiss  with  some  thousands  of  his  men  as  a  result  of  his  brave 
stand  at  the  "  Hornet's  Nest." 

But  their  hopes  were  mingled  with  grave  fears.  General 
Van  Dorn  with  an  army  of  twenty  thousand  men  was  hasten 
ing  from  Arkansas  to  join  the  Confederate  forces  at  Shiloh; 
but  the  roads  were  bad  and  he  was  yet  far  away.  On  the  other 
hand,  Buell  was  coming  from  Nashville  to  join  Grant's  army. 
Should  he  arrive  during  the  night,  the  contest  of  the  next  day 
would  be  unequal  and  the  Confederates  would  risk  losing  all 
that  they  had  gained.  Moreover,  Beauregard's  army,  with  its 
long,  muddy  march  from  Corinth  and  its  more  than  twelve 
hours'  continuous  fighting,  was  worn  and  weary  almost  to 
exhaustion. 

The  Union  army  was  stunned  and  bleeding,  but  not  dis 
abled,  at  the  close  of  the  first  day's  battle.  Caught  unawares, 
the  men  had  made  a  noble  stand.  Though  pressed  back  from 
their  position  and  obliged  to  huddle  for  the  night  around  the 
Landing,  while  thousands  of  their  comrades  had  fallen  on  the 
gory  field,  they  had  hopes  of  heavy  reenforcements  during 
the  night.  And,  indeed,  early  in  the  evening  the  cry  ran  along 
the  Union  lines  that  Buell's  army  had  come.  The  advance 
guard  had  arrived  late  in  the  afternoon  and  had  assisted  Hurl- 
but  in  the  closing  scene  on  the  bluff  of  Dill's  ravine;  others  con 
tinued  to  pour  in  during  the  night.  And,  furthermore,  Gen 
eral  Lew  Wallace's  division,  though  it  had  taken  a  wrong  road 
from  Crump's  Landing  and  had  not  reached  the  field  in  time 
for  the  fighting  of  the  6th,  now  at  last  had  arrived.  Buell  and 
Wallace  had  brought  with  them  twenty-five  thousand  fresh 
troops  to  be  hurled  on  the  Confederates  on  the  morning  of  the 
7th.  But  Van  Dorn  had  not  come.  The  preponderance  of 
numbers  now  was  with  the  Union  army. 

Everyone  knew  that  the  battle  was  not  over,  that  the  issue 


THE  MOUNTED   POLICE  OF  THE  WEST. 

Stalwart  horsemen  such  as  these  bore  the  brunt  of  keeping  order  in  the  turbulent  regions  fought  over  by  the  armies  in  the  West. 
The  bugle  call,  "Boots  and  Saddles!"  might  summon  them  to  fight,  or  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  active  Confederates,  Van  Dorn 
and  Price.  It  was  largely  due  to  their  daring  and  bravery  that  the  Confederate  forces  were  held  back  from  the  Mississippi  so  as  not 
to  embarrass  the  movements  of  Grant  and  the  gunboats.  Of  this  unattached  cavalry  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  were  the  men  in  the 
upper  picture — Company  D,  Fourth  Kentucky  Volunteers,  enlisted  at  Louisville,  December,  1861. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  FOURTH  KENTUCKY  CAVALRY, 


lattle 


April 
1862 


must  be  decided  on  the  coming  day,  and  the  weary  thousands 
of  both  sides  sank  down  on  the  ground  in  a  drenching  rain  to 
get  a  little  rest  and  to  gain  a  little  strength  for  the  desperate 
struggle  that  was  sure  to  come  on  the  morrow. 

Beauregard  rested  hopes  upon  a  fresh  dispatch  announcing 
that  Buell  was  delayed  and  the  dreaded  junction  of  two  Federal 
armies  therefore  impossible.  Meanwhile  Grant  and  Buell  were 
together  in  Sherman's  camp  and  it  was  decided  that  Buell's 
troops  should  attack  Beauregard  next  morning.  One  division 
of  Buell  stood  to  arms  all  night. 

At  the  break  of  day  on  Monday,  April  7th,  all  was  astir 
in  both  camps  on  the  field  of  Shiloh,  and  the  dawn  was  greeted 
with  the  roar  of  cannon.  The  troops  that  Grant  now  ad 
vanced  into  the  contest  were  all,  except  about  ten  thousand,  the 
fresh  recruits  that  Wallace  and  Buell  had  brought,  while  the 
Confederates  had  not  a  single  company  that  had  not  been  on 
the  ground  the  day  before.  Some  military  historians  believe 
that  Beauregard  would  have  won  a  signal  victory  if  neither 
army  had  been  reenforced  during  the  night.  But  now  under 
the  changed  conditions  the  Confederates  were  at  a  great  dis 
advantage,  and  yet  they  fought  for  eight  long  hours  with 
heroic  valor. 

The  deafening  roar  of  the  cannon  that  characterized  the 
beginning  of  the  day's  battle  was  followed  by  the  rattle  of 
musketry,  so  continuous  that  no  ear  could  distinguish  one  shot 
from  another.  Nelson's  division  of  Buell's  army  was  the  first 
to  engage  the  Confederates.  Nelson  commanded  the  Federal 
left  wing,  with  Hardee  and  Breckinridge  immediately  opposed 
to  him.  The  Union  center  was  under  the  command  of  Gen 
erals  McCook  and  Crittenden;  the  right  wing  was  com 
manded  by  McClernand,  with  Hurlbut  next,  while  Sherman 
and  Lew  Wallace  occupied  the  extreme  right.  The  Confed 
erate  left  wing  was  commanded  by  the  doughty  Bragg  and 
next  to  him  was  General  Polk. 

Shiloh   Church   was   again   the    storm   center   and   in   it 


J 


COPYRIGHT,   1911.   PATRIOT  PUB.   CO. 


THE  FLEET  THAT  CLEARED  THE  RIVER 


"A  spear-thrust  in  the  back"  was  delivered  to  the  Con 
federacy  by  the  inland-river  fleet  that  cut  it  in  two.  The 
squadron  of  Flag-Officer  Davis  is  here  lying  near  Memphis. 
Thus  appeared  the  Federal  gunboats  on  June  5,  1862,  two 
miles  above  the  city. 
Fort  Pillow  had  been 
abandoned  the  previ 
ous  day,  but  the  Con 
federate  river-defense 
flotilla  still  remained 
below  and  the  Federals, 
still  smarting  from  the 
disaster  inflicted  on 
the  "Cincinnati,"  were 
determined  to  bring  on 
a  decisive  engagement 
and,  if  possible,  clear 


MEMPHIS,  TENNESSEE  ON  THE  HEIGHTS 

the  river  of  their  antagonists.     Mean- 
wliile  four  new  vessels  had  joined  the 


Federal  cause.  On  these  heights  above  the  river  the  inhabit 
ants  of  Memphis  were  crowded  on  the  morning  of  June  6, 
1862,  as  the  Federal  squadron  moved  down-stream  against 
the  Confederate  gunboats  that  were  drawn  up  in  double  line 

of  battle  opposite  the 
city.  Everyone  wanted 
to  see  the  outcome  of 
the  great  fight  that  was 
impending,  for  if  its 
result  proved  adverse 
to  the  Confederates, 
Memphis  would  fall 
into  Federal  hands  and 
another  stretch  of  the 
Mississippi  would  be 
lost  to  the  South.  In 
the  engagement  at 


Federal  squadron.  These  were  river 
steamers  which  Charles  Ellet,  Jr.,  had 
converted  into  rams  in  the  short  space 
of  six  weeks.  Their  principle  was  as  old 
as  history,  but  it  was  now  to  be  tried 
for  the  first  time  in  aid  of  the 


LIEUTENANT-COLONEL 
ALFRED  W.  ELLET 


Memphis  two  of  the  Ellet  rams  ac 
companied  the  squadron — the  "  Queen 
of  the  West"  commanded  by  Charles 
Ellet,  and  the  "Monarch"  commanded 
by  his  younger  brother,  Major  Alfred 
Ellet.  The  Confederate  flotilla  was 
destroyed,  but  with  the  loss  of  Charles 
Ellet,  from  a  mortal  wound. 


ONE  OF  THE   THREE 
ELLETS  AT  MEMPHIS 


IE— 3] 


Jfftrat 


lattl? 


v, 


General  Beauregard  made  his  headquarters.  Hour  after  hour 
the  columns  in  blue  and  gray  surged  to  and  fro,  first  one  then 
the  other  gaining  the  advantage  and  presently  losing  it.  At 
times  the  smoke  of  burning  powder  enveloped  the  whole  field 
and  hid  both  armies  from  view.  The  interesting  incidents  of 
this  day  of  blood  would  fill  a  volume.  General  Hindman  of  the 
Southern  side  had  a  novel  experience.  His  horse  was  struck 
by  a  bursting  shell  and  torn  to  a  thousand  fragments.  The 
general,  thrown  ten  feet  high,  fell  to  the  ground,  but  leaped 
to  his  feet  unhurt  and  asked  for  another  horse. 

Early  in  the  afternoon,  Beauregard  became  convinced  that 
he  was  fighting  a  losing  battle  and  that  it  would  be  the  part 
of  prudence  to  withdraw  the  army  before  losing  all.  He 
thereupon  sent  the  members  of  his  staff  to  the  various  corps 
commanders  ordering  them  to  prepare  to  retreat  from  the  field, 
at  the  same  time  making  a  show  of  resuming  the  offensive. 
The  retreat  was  so  skilfully  made,  the  front  firing-line  being 
kept  intact,  that  the  Federals  did  not  suspect  it  for  some  time. 
Some  hours  before  nightfall  the  fighting  had  ceased.  The 
Federals  remained  in  possession  of  the  field  and  the  Confed 
erates  were  wading  through  the  mud  on  the  road  ta  Corinth. 

It  was  a  dreary  march  for  the  bleeding  and  battered  Con 
federate  army.  An  eye-witness  described  it  in  the  following 
language : 

"  I  made  a  detour  from  the  road  on  which  the  army  was 
retreating  that  I  might  travel  faster  and  get  ahead  of  the  main 
body.  In  this  ride  of  twelve  miles  alongside  of  the  routed 
army,  I  saw  more  of  human  agony  and  woe  than  I  trust  I  will 
ever  again  be  called  upon  to  witness.  The  retreating  host 
wound  along  a  narrow  and  almost  impassable  road,  extending 
some  seven  or  eight  miles  in  length.  Here  was  a  line  of  wagons 
loaded  with  wounded,  piled  in  like  bags  of  grain,  groaning 
and  cursing;  while  the  mules  plunged  on  in  mud  and  water 
belly-deep,  the  water  sometimes  coming  into  the  wagons.  Next 
came  a  straggling  regiment  of  infantry,  pressing  on  past  the 


A  LOCOMOTIVE  THAT 
HANGED    EIGHT 
MEN  AS  SPIES 


In  April,  1862,  J.  J. 
Andrews,    a   citizen   of 
Kentucky    and    a    spy   in 
General    Buell's    employment, 
proposed  seizing  a  Iccomotive   on 
the  Western  and  Atlantic  Railroad  at 
some  point  below  Chattanooga  and  running 
it  back  to  that  place,  cutting  telegraph  wires 

and  burning  bridges  on  the  way.     General  O.  M.  COPYRIGHT,  1911.  REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  co. 

Mitchel  authorized  the  plan  and  twenty-two  men  volunteered  to  carry  it  out.  On  the  morning  of  April  12th,  the  train  they  were  on 
stopped  at  Big  Shanty  station  for  breakfast.  The  bridge-burners  (who  were  in  citizens'  clothes)  detached  the  locomotive  and  three 
box-cars  and  started  at  full  speed  for  Chattanooga,  but  after  a  run  of  about  a  hundred  miles  their  fuel  was  exhausted  and  their  pur 
suers  were  in  sight.  The  whole  party  was  captured.  Andrews  was  condemned  as  a  spy  and  hanged  at  Atlanta,  July  7th.  The  others 
were  confined  at  Chattanooga,  Knoxville,  and  afterward  at  Atlanta,  where  seven  were  executed  as  spies.  Of  the  fourteen  survivors, 
eight  escaped  from  prison;  and  of  these,  six  eventually  reached  the  Union  lines.  Six  were  removed  to  Richmond  and  confined  in  Castle 
Thunder  until  they  were  exchanged  in  1863.  The  Confederates  attempted  to  destroy  the  locomotive  when  they  evacuated  Atlanta. 


Ijtl0t} 


April 
1862 


wagons;  then  a  stretcher  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  four  men, 
carrying  a  wounded  officer;  then  soldiers  staggering  along, 
with  an  arm  broken  and  hanging  down,  or  other  fearful 
wounds,  which  were  enough  to  destroy  life.  And,  to  add  to 
the  horrors  of  the  scene,  the  elements  of  heaven  marshaled 
their  forces- — a  fitting  accompaniment  of  the  tempest  of  human 
desolation  and  passion  which  was  raging.  A  cold,  drizzling 
rain  commenced  about  nightfall,  and  soon  came  harder  and 
faster,  then  turned  to  pitiless,  blinding  hail.  This  storm  raged 
writh  violence  for  three  hours.  I  passed  long  wagon  trains 
filled  with  wounded  and  dying  soldiers,  without  even  a  blanket 
to  shelter  them  from  the  driving  sleet  and  hail,  which  fell  in 
stones  as  large  as  partridge  eggs,  until  it  lay  on  the  ground 
two  inches  deep. 

"  Some  three  hundred  men  died  during  that  awful  retreat, 
and  their  bodies  were  thrown  out  to  make  room  for  others  who, 
although  wounded,  had  struggled  on  through  the  storm,  hop 
ing  to  find  shelter,  rest,  and  medical  care." 

Four  days  after  the  battle,  however,  Beauregard  reported 
to  his  government,  "  this  army  is  more  confident  of  ultimate 
success  than  before  its  encounter  with  the  enemy."  Addressing 
the  soldiers,  he  said:  "  You  have  done  your  duty.  .  .  .  Your 
countrymen  are  proud  of  your  deeds  on  the  bloody  field  of 
Shiloh;  confident  in  the  ultimate  result  of  your  valor." 

The  news  of  these  two  fearful  days  at  Shiloh  was  astound 
ing  to  the  American  people.  Never  before  on  the  continent 
had  there  been  anything  approaching  it.  Bull  Run  wras  a  skir 
mish  in  comparison  with  this  gigantic  conflict.  The  losses  on 
each  side  exceeded  ten  thousand  men.  General  Grant  tells  us 
that  after  the  second  day  he  saw  an  open  field  so  covered  with 
dead  that  it  would  have  been  possible  to  walk  across  it  in  any 
direction  stepping  on  dead  bodies,  without  a  foot  touching  the 
ground.  American  valor  was  tried  to  the  full  on  both  sides  at 
Shiloh,  and  the  record  shows  that  it  was  equal  to  the  test. 


.1 


r,- 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    PATRIOT   PUB.  CO. 


THE  BIGGEST  GUN  OF  ALL— THE   20-INCH  MONSTER  FOR  WHICH  NO  TARGET  WOULD  SERVE 


A  photograph  of  the  only  20-inch  gun  made  during^  the  war. 
It  weighed  117,000  pounds.  On  March  30,  1861,  a  15-inch 
Columbiad  was  heralded  in  Harper  s  Weekly  as  the  biggest  gun 
in  the  world,  but  three  years  later  this 
was  exceeded.  In  1844  Lieutenant 
(later  Brigadier-General)  Thomas  Jef 
ferson  Rodman  of  the  Ordnance  De 
partment  commenced  a  series  of  tests 
to  find  a  way  to  obviate  the  injurious 
strains  set  up  in  the  metal,  by  cool 
ing  a  large  casting  from  the  exterior. 
He  finally  developed  his  theory  of  cast 
ing  a  gun  with  the  core  hollow  and 
then  cooling  it  by  a  stream  of  water  or 
cold  air  through  it.  So  successful  was 
this  method  that  the  War  Department, 
in  1860,  authorized  a  15-inch  smooth 
bore  gun.  It  proved  a  great  success. 
General  Rodman  then  projected  his 
20-inch  smooth-bore  gun,  which  was 


THE  BIGGEST  GUN  IN  THE 
WORLD. 

We  publish  on  page  205  an  accurate  drawing  of 
the  great  Fifteen-inch  Gun  at  Fort  Monroe,  Virgin 
ia  ;  and  also  a  picture,  from  arecent  sketch,  showing 
the  experiments  which  are  being  made  with  a  view 
to  test  it.  It  is  proper  that  we  .should  say  that  the 
small  drawing  is  front  the  lithograph  which  is  pub 
lished  in.  MAJOR  BARNARD'S  "Notes  on  S':a-Coast 
Defense,"  published  by  Mr.  D.  Van  Nostrand.  of 
this  city. 

This  gun  was  cast  at  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania, 
by  Knapp,  Eudd,  &  Co.,  under  the  directions  of 
Captain  T.  J.  Rodman,  of  the  Ordnance  Corps. 
Its  dimensions  are  as  follows : 

Total  length 190  Inches. 

Length  of  calibre  of  bore 156       u 

Length  of  ellipsoidal  chamber 9       " 

Total  length  of  bore 166       '« 

Maximum  exterior  diameter 48      '* 

NEWS  OF  MARCH   30,  1861 


made  in  1864  under  his  direction  at  Fort  Pitt,  Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania.  It  was  mounted  at  Fort  Hamilton,  New  York 
Harbor,  very  soon  afterwards,  but  on  account  of  the  tre 
mendous  size  and  destructive  effect  of  its 
projectiles  it  was  fired  only  four  times 
during  the  war.  It  was  almost  impos 
sible  to  get  a  target  that  would  with 
stand  the  shots  and  leave  anything  to 
show  what  had  happened.  These  four 
shots  were  fired  with  50,  75,  100  and  125 
pounds  of  powder.  The  projectile 
weighed  1,080  pounds,and  the  maximum 
pressure  on  the  bore  was  25,000  pounds. 
In  March,  1867,  it  was  again  fired  four 
times  with  125, 150, 175  and  200  pounds 
of  powder,  each  time  with  an  elevation 
of  twenty-five  degrees,  the  projectile 
attaining  a  maximum  range  of  8,001 
yards.  This  is  no  mean  record  even 
compared  with  twentieth  century  pieces. 


COPrBIGHT,    1911,   PATRIOT   PUB.   CO. 


THE  "CHEESE  BOX"  THAT  MADE  HISTORY 
AS  IT  APPEARED  FOUR  MONTHS  LATER 


In  this  remarkable  view  of  the  "  Monitor's  "  turret,  taken  in  July,  1862,  is  seen  as  clearly  as  on  the  day 
after  the  great  battle  the  effect  of  the  Confederate  fire  upon  Ericsson's  novel  craft.  As  the  two  vessels  ap 
proached  each  other  about  half-past  eight  on  that  immortal  Sunday  morning,  the  men  within  the  turret 
waited  anxiously  for  the  first  shot  of  their  antagonist.  It  soon  came  from  her  bow  gun  and  went  wide  of  the 
mark.  The  "Virginia"  no  longer  had  the  broadside  of  a  wooden  ship  at  which  to  aim.  Not  until  the 
"Monitor"  was  alongside  the  big  ironclad  at  close  range  came  the  order  "Begin  firing"  to  the  men  in  the 
"cheese  box."  Then  the  gun-ports  of  the  turret  were  triced  back,  and  it  began  to  revolve  for  the  first  time 
in  battle.  As  soon  as  the  guns  were  brought  to  bear,  two  11-inch  solid  shot  struck  the  "Virginia's"  armor; 
almost  immediately  she  replied  with  her  broadside,  and  Lieutenant  Greene  and  his  gunners  listened 
anxiously  to  the  shells  bursting  against  their  citadel.  They  made  no  more  impression  than  is  apparent  in 
the  picture.  Confident  in  the  protection  of  their  armor,  the  Federals  reloaded  with  a  will  and  came  again 
and  again  to  close  quarters  with  their  adversary,  hurling  two  great  projectiles  about  every  eight  minutes. 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    PATRIOT    PUB.  CO. 


MEN  ON  THE   "MONITOR"  WHO   FOUGHT   WITH  WORDEN 


Here  on  the  deck  of  the 
"Monitor"  sit  some  of  the 
men  who  held  up  the  hands  of 
Lieutenant  Worden  in  the 
great  fight  with  the  "Virginia." 
In  the  picture,  taken  in  July, 
1862,  only  four  months  after 
ward,  one  of  the  nine  famous 
dents  on  the  turret  are  visible. 
It  required  courage  not  only  to 
fight  in  the  "Monitor"  for  the 
first  time  but  to  embark  on  her  at 
all,  for  she  was  a  strange  and 
untried  invention  at  which 
many  high  authorities  shook 
their  heads.  But  during  the 
battle,  amid  all  the  difficulties 
of  breakdowns  by  the  new  un 
tried  machinery,  Lieutenant  S. 
Dana  Greene  coolly  directed  his 
men,  who  kept  up  a  fire  of 
remarkable  accuracy.  Twenty 
of  the  forty-one  11-inch  shot 
fired  from  the  "Monitor"  took 
effect,  more  or  less,  on  the  iron 
plates  of  the  "Virginia."  The 


ADMIRAL  J.  L.  WORDEN 


"Monitor"  was  struck  nine 
times  on  her  turret,  twice  on 
the  pilot-house,  thrice  on  the 
deck,  and  eight  times  on  the 
side.  While  Greene  was  fight 
ing  nobly  in  the  turret,  Wbrden 
with  the  helmsman  in  the  pilot 
house  was  bravely  maneuver 
ing  his  vessel  and  seeking  to 
ram  his  huge  antagonist.  Twice 
he  almost  succeeded  and  both 
times  Greene's  guns  were  used 
on  the  "Virginia"  at  point- 
blank  range  with  telling  effect. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  action 
Worden  was  blinded  by  a  shell 
striking  near  one  of  the  peep 
holes  in  the  pilot-house  and 
the  command  devolved  upon 
Greene.  Wbrden,  even  in  his 
agony  of  pain  while  the  doctor 
was  attending  his  injuries,  asked 
constantly  about  the  progress  of 
the  battle;  and  when  told  that 
the  "  Minnesota  "  was  safe,  he 
said,  "Then  I  can  die  happy." 


"ANY  MAN 
WHO  IS 

PREPARED 

FOR 
DEFEAT 

WOULD  BE 

HALF  DE 
FEATED 
BEFORE 
HE  COM 
MENCED  " 


THE    COMMANDER    OF    THE    FEDERAL    FLEET    AT    NEW    ORLEANS 


"  Wlio  is  this  Farragut? "  So  the  younger  generation  of  Americans  must  have  wondered,  at  the  news  of  late  Janu 
ary,  1862.  Farragut  was  to  have  a  flag  in  the  Gulf  and  was  expected  to  capture  New  Orleans.  Thus  far  in  the 
War,  he  had  done  nothing  but  sit  on  an  obscure  retiring  board  in  the  Navy  Department  at  Washington.  But  Com 
mander  David  D.  Porter  knew  him,  for  it  was  with  Porter's  own  father  in  the  famous  old  "Essex"  that  Farragut 
as  a  mere  boy  had  proved  worthy  to  command  a  fighting  ship.  And  now  it  was  Porter  who  had  recommended  him 
for  a  task  considered  gravely  dangerous  by  all,  foolhardy  by  not  a  few.  This  was  no  less  than  to  pass  the  forts 
below  New  Orleans,  defeat  a  powerful  and  determined  Confederate  flotilla,  capture  the  city,  and  then  sweep  up  the 
Mississippi  and  split  the  Confederacy  in  two.  To  this  Farragut  rigidly  held  himself  and  the  brave  men  under  him, 
when,  in  the  dark  hour  before  dawn  of  April  24,  1862,  they  faced  the  terrible  bombardment  of  the  forts  and  fought 
their  way  through  the  flames  of  fire  rafts  desperately  maneuvered  by  the  opposing  gunboats.  Next  day  New  Orleans 
was  Farragut's.  Leaving  it  to  the  co-operating  army  under  General  B.  F.  Butler,  Farragut  pushed  on  up  the  river, 
passed  and  repassed  the  fortifications  at  Vicksburg,  but  the  army  needed  to  drive  home  the  wedge  thus  firmly  en 
tered  by  the  navy  was  not  yet  ready.  It  was  another  year  before  the  sturdy  blows  of  Farragut  were  effectually 
supplemented  ashore. 


COPYRIGHT,  1911,   REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 

THE  MEN  WHO  DARED— SAILORS  ON  THE  "HARTFORD"  AFTER  PASSING  THE  NEW  ORLEANS  FORTS 


On  this  page  of  unwritten  history  McPherson  and  Oliver,  the  New 
Orleans  war-time  photographers,  have  caught  the  crew  of  the 
staunch  old  "Hartford"  as  they  relaxed  after  their  fiery  test.  In 
unconscious  picturesqueness  grouped  about  the  spar-deck,  the 
men  are  gossiping  or  telling  over  again  their  versions  of  the  great 
deeds  done  aboard  the  flagship.  Some  have  seized  the  opportunity 
for  a  little  plain  sewing,  while  all  are  interested  in  the  new  and 
unfamiliar  process  of  "having  their  pictures  taken."  The  nota 
ble  thing  about  the  picture  is  the 
number  of  young  faces.  Only  a 
few  of  the  old  salts  whose  bearded 
and  weather-beaten  faces  give  evi 
dence  of  service  in  the  old  navy 
still  remain.  After  the  great 
triumph  in  Mobile  Bay,  Farragut 
said  of  these  men:  "I  have 
never  seen  a  crew  come  up  like 
ours.  They  are  ahead  of  the  old 
set  in  small  arms,  and  fully  equal 
to  them  at  the  great  guns.  They 
arrived  here  a  mere  lot  of  boys 
and  young  men,  and  have  now 


SPAR-DECK  OF  THE  "HARTFORD" 


fattened  up  and  knocked  the  nine-inch  guns  about  like  twenty- 
four  pounders,  to  the  astonishment  of  everybody.  There  was  but 
one  man  who  showed  fear  and  he  was  allowed  to  resign.  This  was 
the  most  desperate  battle  I  ever  fought  since  the  days  of  the  old 
'Essex.' "  "It  was  the  anxious  night  of  my  life,"  wrote  Farragut 
later.  The  spar-deck  shown  below  recalls  another  speech.  "  Don't 
flinch  from  that  fire,  boys!  There  is  a  hotter  fire  for  those  who 
don't  do  their  duty!"  So  shouted  Farragut  with  his  ship  fast 

aground  and  a  huge  fire-raft  held 
hard  against  her  wooden  side 
by  the  little  Confederate  tug 
"Mosher. "  The  ship  seemed  all 
ablaze  and  the  men,  "breathing 
fire,"  were  driven  from  their  guns. 
Farragut,  calmly  pacing  the  poop- 
deck,  called  out  his  orders,  caring 
nothing  for  the  rain  of  shot 
from  Fort  St.  Philip.  The  men, 
inspired  by  such  coolness,  leaped 
to  their  stations  again  and  soon 
a  shot  pierced  the  boiler  of  the 
plucky  "Mosher"  and  sank  her. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  RICHMOND 

A  SHATTERED  and  discomfited  army  were  the  hosts  of 
McDowell  when  they  reached  the  banks  of  the  Poto 
mac,  after  that  ill-fated  July  Sunday  at  Bull  Run.  Dispirited 
by  the  sting  of  defeat,  this  motley  and  unorganized  mass  of 
men  became  rather  a  mob  than  an  army.  The  transformation 
of  this  chaos  of  demoralization  into  the  trained,  disciplined,  and 
splendid  troops  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was  a 
triumph  of  the  "  young  Napoleon  "  —Gen.  George  Brinton 
McClellan.  Fresh  from  his  victories  in  the  mountains  of  West 
Virginia,  he  was  called  to  Washington  to  transmute  200,000 
American  citizens,  fresh  from  shop  and  farm,  into  soldiers. 

For  months  it  was  "  drill,  drill."  Public  opinion  grew 
restless  at  the  cry  "  All's  Quiet  Along  the  Potomac."  At  last, 
on  March  17th,  McClellan  moved.  On  April  5th  the  Union 
army  was  advancing  toward  Richmond  up  the  Peninsula,  but 
was  stopped  at  Yorktown  by  the  Confederate  General 
Magruder.  Not  until  May  3rd  w^ere  McClellan's  siege  guns  in 
place.  That  night  the  Confederates  evacuated. 

In  hot  pursuit  the  Union  army  followed.  At  Williams- 
burg  the  lines  in  Gray  stood  again.  "  Jeb  "  Stuart,  D.  H. 
Hill,  and  Jubal  Early  fought  nobly.  They  gained  their  object 
—more  time  for  their  retreating  comrades.  But  McClellan's 
fighting  leaders,  Hooker,  Kearny  and  Hancock,  wrere  not  to 
be  denied.  Williamsburg  was  occupied  by  the  Federal  army. 

With  Yorktown  and  Williamsburg  inscribed  upon  its 
victorious  banners,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  took  up  again 
its  toilsome  march  from  Cumberland  Landing  toward  the 
Confederate  capital  on  the  James. 

It  wras  the  16th  of  May,  1862,  when  the  advanced  corps 
reached  White  House,  the  ancestral  home  of  the  Lees.  On 


EW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


"LITTLE  MAC"  PREPARING  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGN— A  ROYAL  AIDE 


A  picture  taken  in  the  fall  of  1861,  when  McClellan  was  at  the  headquarters  of  General  George  W.  Morell 
(who  stands  at  the  extreme  left),  commanding  a  brigade  in  Fitz  John  Porter's  Division.    Morell  was  then 
stationed  on  the  defenses  of  Washington  at  Minor's  Hill  in  Virginia,  and  General  McClellan  was  engaged 
in  transforming  the  raw  recruits  in  the  camps  near  the  national  capital  into  the  finished  soldiers  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.     "Little  Mac,"  as  they  called  him,  was  at  this  time  at  the  height  of  his  popularity.     He 
appears  in  the  center  between  two  of  his  favorite  aides-de-camp — Lieut.-Cols.  A.  V.  Colburn  and  N.  B. 
>:ei — whom  he  usually  selected,  he  writes,  "when  hard  riding  is  required."     Farther  to  the  right 
i^uished  visitors — the  Prince  de  Joinville,  son  of  King  Louis  Phillippe  of  France,  and  his 
*  <  >uiit  de  Paris,  who  wears  the  uniform  of  McClellan 's  staff,  on  which  he  was  to  serve  through 
out  the  Peninsula  Campaign. 


— in  ^ilt  of 


; 


every  side  were  fields  of  wheat,  and,  were  it  not  for  the 
presence  of  one  hundred  thousand  men,  there  was  the  promise 
of  a  full  harvest.  It  was  here  that  General  McClellan  took 
up  his  headquarters,  a  distance  of  twenty-four  miles  from 
Richmond. 

In  the  Confederate  capital  a  panic  had  seized  the  people. 
As  the  retreating  army  of  Johnston  sought  the  environs  of 
Richmond  and  news  of  the  invading  hosts  was  brought  in,  fear 
took  possession  of  the  inhabitants  and  many  wild  rumors  were 
afloat  as  to  the  probable  capture  of  the  city.  But  it  was  not 
a  fear  that  Johnston  would  not  fight.  The  strategic  policy  of 
the  Southern  general  had  been  to  delay  the  advance  of  the 
Northern  army.  Fortunately  for  him,  the  rainy  weather 
proved  a  powerful  ally.  The  time  had  now  come  when  he 
should  change  his  position  from  the  defensive  to  the  offensive. 
The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  had  been  brought  to  bay,  and 
it  now  turned  to  beat  off  the  invaders  and  save  its  capital. 

On  the  historic  Peninsula  lay  two  of  the  greatest  and 
most  splendid  armies  that  had  ever  confronted  each  other 
on  the  field  of  battle.  The  engagement,  now  imminent,  was 
to  be  the  first  in  that  series  of  contests,  between  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  and  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  ending 
three  years  thereafter,  at  Appomattox,  when  the  war-worn 
veterans  of  gray  should  lay  down  their  arms,  in  honor,  to  the 
war-worn  veterans  of  blue. 

The  Union  advance  was  retarded  by  the  condition  of 
the  weather  and  the  roads.  Between  McClellan's  position  at 
White  House  and  the  waiting  Confederate  army  lay  the 
Chickahominy,  an  erratic  and  sluggish  stream,  that  spreads 
itself  out  in  wooded  swamps  and  flows  around  many  islands, 
forming  a  valley  from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  wide,  bordered 
by  low  bluffs.  In  dry  weather  it  is  but  a  mere  brook,  but  a 
moderate  shower  will  cause  it  to  rise  quickly  and  to  offer 
formidable  opposition  to  any  army  seeking  its  passage.  The 
valley  is  covered  with  trees  whose  tops  reach  to  the  level  of 


f/J/IMI/l 


i1 


••/' 


RAMPARTS  THAT  BAFFLED  McCLELLAN.  (Hasty  fortifications  of 
the  Confederates  at  Yorktown.)  It  was  against  such  fortifications  as 
these,  which  Magruder  had  hastily  reenforced  with  sand-bags,  that 
MoCIellan  spent  a  month  preparing  his  heavy  batteries.  Magruder  had 
far  too  few  soldiers  to  man  his  long  line  of  defenses  properly,  and  his 
position  could  have  been  taken  by  a  single  determined  attack.  This  ram 
part  was  occupied  by  the  Confederate  general,  D.  H.  Hill,  who  had  been 
the  first  to  enter  Yorktown  in  order  to  prepare  it  for 'siege.  He  was  the 
last  to  leave  it  on  the  night  of  May  3,  1862. 


WRECKED  ORDNANCE.  (Gun  exploded  by  the  Confederates  on 
General  Hill's  rampart,  Yorktown.)  Although  the  Confederates  aban 
doned  200  pieces  of  ordnance  at  Yorktown,  they  were  able  to  render  most 
of  them  useless  before  leaving.  Hill  succeeded  in  terrorizing  the  Federals 
with  grape-shot,  and  some  of  this  was  left  behind.  After  the  evacuation 
the  ramparts  were  overrun  by  Union  trophy  seekers.  The  soldier  rest 
ing  his  hands  upon  his  musket  is  one  of  the  Zouaves  whose  bright  and  novel 
uniforms  were  so  conspicuous  early  in  the  war.  This  spot  was  directly  on 
the  line  of  the  British  fortification  of  1781. 


ANOTHER  VOICELESS  GUN.  (Confederate  ramparts  southeast  of 
Yorktown.)  A  32-pounder  Navy  gun  which  had  been  burst,  wrecking 
its  embrasure.  The  Federal  soldier  seated  on  the  sand-bags  is  on  guard-duty 
to  prevent  camp-followers  from  looting  the  vacant  fort. 


THE  MISSING  RIFLE.  (Extensive  sand-bag  fortifications  of  the  Con 
federates  at  Yorktown.)  The  shells  and  carriage  were  left  behind  by  the 
Confederates,  but  the  rifled  gun  to  which  they  belonged  was  taken  along 
in  the  retreat.  Such  pieces  as  they  could  not  remove  they  spiked. 


GUNS  THE  UNION  LOST  AND  RECOVERED.  (A  two-gun  Confed 
erate  battery  in  the  entrenchments  south  of  Yorktown.)  The  near  gun 
is  a  32-pounder  navy;  the  far  one,  a  24-pounder  siege-piece.  More  than 
3,000  pieces  of  naval  ordnance  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Confederates 
early  in  the  war,  through  the  ill-advised  and  hasty  abandonment  of 
Norfolk  Navy  Yard  by  the  Federals.  Many  of  these  guns  did  service 
at  Yorktown  and  subsequently  on  the  James  River  against  the  Union. 


THE  CONFEDERATE  COMMAND  OF  THE  RIVER.  (Battery 
Magruder,  Yorktown.)  Looking  north  up  the  river,  four  of  the  five 
8-inch  Columbiads  composing  this  section  of  the  battery  are  visible.  The 
grape-shot  and  spherical  shells,  which  had  been  gathered  in  quantities  to 
prevent  '  <j  Federal  fleet  from  passing  up  the  river,  were  abandoned  on  the 
hasty  retreat  of  the  Confederates,  the  guns  being  spiked.  The  vessels  in 
the  river  are  transport  ships,  with  the  exception  of  the  frigate  justoff  shore. 


in 


May 
1862 


m 


\ 


the  adjacent  highlands,  thus  forming  a  screen  from  either 
side.  The  bridges  crossing  it  had  all  been  destroyed  by  the 
retreating  army  except  the  one  at  Mechanicsville,  and  it  was 
not  an  easy  task  that  awaited  the  forces  of  McClellan  as  they 
made  their  way  across  the  spongy  soil. 

The  van  of  the  Union  army  reached  the  Chickahominy 
on  May  20th.  The  bridge  was  gone  but  the  men  under  Gen 
eral  Naglee  forded  the  little  river,  reaching  the  plateau  beyond, 
and  made  a  bold  reconnaissance  before  the  Confederate  lines. 
In  the  meantime,  newly  constructed  bridges  were  beginning 
to  span  the  Chickahominy,  and  the  Federal  army  soon  was 
crossing  to  the  south  bank  of  the  river. 

General  McClellan  had  been  promised  reenforcements 
from  the  north.  General  McDowell  with  forty  thousand  men 
had  started  from  Fredericksburg  to  join  him  north  of  the 
Chickahominy.  For  this  reason,  General  McClellan  had 
thrown  the  right  wing  of  his  army  on  the  north  of  the  river 
while  his  left  would  rest  on  the  south  side  of  the  stream.  This 
position  of  his  army  did  not  escape  the  eagle  eye  of  the  Con 
federate  general,  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  believed  the  time 
had  now  come  to  give  battle,  and  perhaps  destroy  the  small 
portion  of  the  Union  forces  south  of  the  river. 

Meanwhile,  General  "  Stonewall "  Jackson,  in  the  Shen- 
andoah,  was  making  threatening  movements  in  the  direction  of 
Washington,  and  McDowell's  orders  to  unite  with  McClellan 
were  recalled. 

The  roads  in  and  about  Richmond  radiate  from  that  city 
like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel.  One  of  these  is  the  Williams- 
burg  stage-road,  crossing  the  Chickahominy  at  Bottom's 
Bridge,  only  eleven  miles  from  Richmond.  It  was  along  this 
road  that  the  Federal  corps  of  Keyes  and  Heintzelman  had 
made  their  way.  Their  orders  were  "to  go  prepared  for  bat 
tle  at  a  moment's  notice  "  and  "  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  has  never  been  checked." 

Parallel  to  this  road,  and  about  a  mile  to  the  northward, 


TWO  KEEPERS  OF  THE 
GOAL 

The  North  expected  General  Mc- 
Clellan  to  possess  himself  of  this 
citadel  of  the  Confederacy  in  June, 
1862,  and  it  seemed  likely  the  ex 
pectation  would  be  realized.  In 
the  upper  picture  we  get  a  near 
view  of  the  State  House  at  Rich 
mond,  part  of  which  was  occupied 
as  a  Capitol  by  the  Confederate 
Congress  during  the  war.  In  this 
building  were  stored  the  records 
and  archives  of  the  Confederate 
Government,  many  of  which  were 


THE  GOAL— THE  CONFEDERATE  CAPITOL 


THE  SPIRES  OF  RICHMOND 

Here  are  the  portraits  of  the  two  military 
leaders  who  were  conspicuous  in  the  Confed 
erate  attack  upon  McClellan's  camp  at  Fair 
Oaks.  General  D.  H.  Hill  did  most  of  the  fierce 
fighting  which  drove  back  the  Federals  on  the 
first  day,  and  only  the  timely  arrival  of  Sum- 
ner's  troops  enabled  the  Federals  to  hold  their 
ground.  Had  they  failed  they  would  have 
been  driven  into  the  morasses  of  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  retreat  across  which  would  have  been 
difficult  as  the  bridges  were  partly  submerged 
by  the  swollen  stream.  After  General  Johnston 
was  wounded,  General  G.  W.  Smith  was  in 
command  during  the  second  day's  fighting. 


lost  during  the  hasty  retreat  of 
President  Davis  and  his  cabinet 
at  the  evacuation  of  Richmond, 
April,  1865.  Below,  we  see  the 
city  of  Richmond  from  afar,  with 
the  Capitol  standing  out  boldly  on 
the  hill.  McClellan  was  not  des 
tined  to  reach  this  coveted  goal, 
and  it  would  not  have  meant  the 
fall  of  the  Confederacy  had  he  then 
done  so.  When  Lincoln  entered 
the  building  in  1865,  the  Con 
federacy  had  been  beaten  as  much 
by  the  blockade  as  by  the  opera 
tions  of  Grant  and  Sherman  with 
vastly  superior  torces. 


GENERAL  G.  W.  SMITH,  C.  S.  A. 


GENERAL  D.  H.  HILL,  C.  S.  A. 


atr  ODaks  —  in 


0f 


May 
1862 


runs  the  Richmond  and  York  River  Railroad.  Seven  miles 
from  Richmond  another  highway  intersects  the  one  from  Wil- 
liamsburg,  known  as  the  Nine  Mile  road.  At  the  point  of  this 
intersection  once  grew  a  clump  of  seven  pines,  hence  the  name 
of  "  Seven  Pines,"  often  given  to  the  battle  fought  on  this  spot. 
A  thousand  yards  beyond  the  pines  were  two  farmhouses  in 
a  grove  of  oaks.  This  was  Fair  Oaks  Farm.  Where  the 
Nine  Mile  road  crossed  the  railroad  was  Fair  Oaks  Station. 

Southeast  of  Seven  Pines  was  White  Oak  Swamp. 
Casey's  division  of  Keyes'  corps  was  stationed  at  Fair  Oaks 
Farm.  A  fifth  of  a  mile  in  front  lay  his  picket  line,  extend 
ing  crescent  shape,  from  the  swamp  to  the  Chickahominy. 
Couch's  division  of  the  same  corps  was  at  Seven  Pines,  with 
his  right  wing  extending  along  the  Nine  Mile  road  to  Fair 
Oaks  Station.  Heintzelman's  corps  lay  to  the  rear;  Kearney's 
division  guarded  the  railroad  at  Savage's  Station  and  Hook 
er's  the  approaches  to  the  White  Oak  Swamp.  This  formed 
three  lines  of  defense.  It  was  a  well-wooded  region  and  at 
this  time  was  in  many  places  no  more  than  a  bog.  No  sooner 
had  these  positions  been  taken,  than  trees  were  cut  to  form 
abatis,  rifle-pits  were  hastily  dug,  and  redoubts  for  placing 
artillery  were  constructed.  The  picket  line  lay  along  a  dense 
growth  of  woods.  Through  an  opening  in  the  trees,  the  Con 
federate  army  could  be  seen  in  force  on  the  other  side  of  the 
clearing. 

The  plans  of  the  Confederate  general  were  well  matured. 
On  Friday,  May  30th,  he  gave  orders  that  his  army  should 
be  ready  to  move  at  daybreak. 

That  night  the  "  windows  of  heaven  seemed  to  have  been 
opened  "  and  the  "  fountains  of  the  deep  broken  up."  The 
storm  fell  like  a  deluge.  It  was  the  most  violent  storm  that 
had  swept  over  that  region  for  a  generation.  Throughout 
the  night  the  tempest  raged.  The  thunderbolts  rolled  with 
out  cessation.  The  sky  was  white  with  the  electric  flashes. 
The  earth  was  thoroughly  drenched.  The  lowlands  became  a 


1 


m 


A   RETREAT 


Here,  almost  within  sight  of  the  goal  (Richmond),  we  see  McClenan's  soldiers  preparing  the  way  for  the  passage  of  the  army  and  its 
supplies.  The  soil  along  the  Chiekahominy  was  so  marshy  that  in  order  to  move  the  supply  trains  and  artillery  from  the  base  at 
"White  House  and  across  the  river  to  the  army,  corduroy  approaches  to  the  bridges  had  to  be  built.  It  was  well  that  the  men  got  this 
early  practice  in  road-building.  Thanks  to  the  work  kept  up,  McClellan  was  able  to  unite  the  divided  wings  of  the  army  almost  at  will 


Copyright  by  Patriot  Pub.  Co. 

"REGULARS"   NEAR  FAIR  OAKS— OFFICERS  OF  McCLELLAN'S   HORSE   ARTILLERY  BRIGADE 

These  trained  soldiers  lived  up  to  the  promise  in  their  firm-set  features.  Major  Hays  and  five  of  his  Lieutenants  and  Captains 
here — Pennington,  Tidball,  Hains,  Robertson  and  Barlow  had,  by  '65,  become  general  officers.  From  left  to  right  (standing) 
are  Edw.  Pendleton,  A.  C.  M.  Pennington,  Henry  Benson,  H.  M.  Gibson,  J.  M.  Wilson,  J.  C.  Tidball,  W.  N.  Dennison;  (sitting) 
P.  C.  Hains,  H.  C.  Gibson.  Wm.  Hays,  J.  M.  Robertson,  J.  W.  Barlow;  (on  ground)  R.  H.  Chapin,  Robert  Clarke,  A.  C.  Vincent. 


air  QDaka  —  3ht 


iltrlptumd 


<*• 


May 

1862 


morass.  From  mud-soaked  beds  the  soldiers  arose  the  next 
morning  to  battle. 

Owing  to  the  storm  the  Confederates  did  not  move  so 
early  as  intended.  However,  some  of  the  troops  were  in  readi 
ness  by  eight  o'clock.  Hour  after  hour  the  forces  of  Long- 
street  and  Hill  awaited  the  sound  of  the  signal-gun  that  would 
tell  them  General  Huger  was  in  his  position  to  march.  Still 
they  waited.  It  was  near  noon  before  General  Hill,  weary  of 
waiting,  advanced  to  the  front,  preceded  by  a  line  of  skir 
mishers,  along  the  Williamsburg  road.  The  Union  pickets 
were  lying  at  the  edge  of  the  forest.  The  soldiers  in  the  pits 
had  been  under  arms  for  several  hours  awaiting  the  attack. 
Suddenly  there  burst  through  the  woods  the  soldiers  of  the 
South.  A  showrer  of  bullets  fell  beneath  the  trees  and  the 
Union  pickets  gave  way.  On  and  on  came  the  lines  of  gray 
in  close  columns.  In  front  of  the  abatis  had  been  planted  a 
battery  of  four  guns.  General  Naglee  with  four  regiments, 
the  Fifty-sixth  and  One  hundredth  New  York  and  Eleventh 
Maine  and  One  hundred  and  fourth  Pennsylvania,  had  gone 
forward,  and  in  the  open  field  met  the  attacking  army.  The 
contest  was  a  stubborn  one.  Naglee's  men  charged  with  their 
bayonets  and  pressed  the  gray  lines  back  again  to  the  edge 
of  the  woods.  Here  they  were  met  by  a  furious  fire  of  mus 
ketry  and  quickly  gave  way,  seeking  the  cover  of  the  rifle- 
pits  at  Fair  Oaks  Farm.  The  Confederate  infantrymen  came 
rushing  on. 

But  again  they  were  held  in  check.  In  this  position,  for 
nearly  three  hours  the  Federals  waged  an  unequal  combat 
against  three  times  their  number.  Then,  suddenly  a  galling 
fire  plowed  in  on  them  from  the  left.  It  came  from  Rains' 
brigade,  which  had  executed  a  flank  movement.  At  the  same 
time  the  brigade  of  Rodes  rushed  toward  them.  The  Federals 
saw  the  hopelessness  of  the  situation.  The  officers  at  the  bat 
teries  tried  to  spike  their  guns  but  were  killed  in  the  attempt. 
Hastily  falling  back,  five  guns  were  left  to  be  turned  on  them 


COPYRIGHT  BY  PATRIOT  PUB.  CO. 


CUSTER  AND  HIS  CLASSMATE— NOW  A   CONFEDERATE  PRISONER 

Friends  and  even  relatives  who  had  been  enlisted  on  opposite  sides  in  the  great  Civil  War  met  each  other  during  its  vicissitudes  upon 
the  battle-field.  Here,  caught  by  the  camera,  is  one  of  the  many  instances.  On  the  left  sits  Lieutenant  J.  B.  Washington,  C.  S.  A.,  who 
was  an  aide  to  General  Johnston  at  Fair  Oaks.  Beside  him  sits  Lieutenant  George  A.  Custer,  of  the  Fifth  U.  S.  Cavalry,  aide  on 
McClellan's  staff,  later  famous  cavalry  general  and  Indian  fighter.  Both  men  were  West  Point  graduates  and  had  attended  the  mili 
tary  academy  together.  On  the  morning  of  May  31,  1862,  at  Fair  Oaks,  Lieutenant  Washington  was  captured  by  some  of  General 
Casey's  pickets.  Later  in  the  day  his  former  classmate  ran  across  him  and  a  dramatic  meeting  was  thus  recorded  by  the  camera. 


air  QDaka — 3Jn  ^tgljt  nf  ftidptumft 


May 
1862 


\\ 


in  their  retreat.  This  move  was  not  too  soon.  In  another 
minute  they  would  have  been  entirely  surrounded  and  cap 
tured.  The  gray  lines  pressed  on.  The  next  stand  would  be 
made  at  Seven  Pines,  where  Couch  was  stationed.  The  forces 
here  had  been  weakened  by  sending  relief  to  Casey.  The  situa 
tion  of  the  Federals  was  growing  critical.  At  the  same  time 
General  Longstreet  sent  reenforcements  to  General  Hill. 
Couch  was  forced  out  of  his  position  toward  the  right  in  the 
direction  of  Fair  Oaks  Station  and  was  thus  separated  from 
the  main  body  of  the  army,  then  in  action. 

The  Confederates  pushed  strongly  against  the  Federal 
center.  Heintzelman  came  to  the  rescue.  The  fight  waged 
was  a  gallant  one.  For  an  hour  and  a  half  the  lines  of  blue 
and  gray  surged  back  and  forth.  The  Federals  were  gradu 
ally  giving  way.  The  left  wing,  alone,  next  to  the  White  Oak 
Swamp,  was  holding  its  own. 

At  the  same  time  over  at  Fair  Oaks  Station  whither 
Couch  had  been  forced,  were  new  developments.  He  was 
about  to  strike  the  Confederate  army  on  its  left  flank,  but  just 
when  the  guns  were  being  trained,  there  burst  across  the  road 
the  troops  of  General  G.  W.  Smith,  who  up  to  this  time  had 
been  inactive.  These  men  were  fresh  for  the  fight,  superior  in 
number,  and  soon  overpowered  the  Northerners.  It  looked 
for  a  time  as  if  the  whole  Union  army  south  of  the  Chickahom- 
iny  was  doomed. 

Over  at  Seven  Pines  the  center  of  McClellan's  army  was 
about  to  be  routed.  Now  it  was  that  General  Heintzelman 
personally  collected  about  eighteen  hundred  men,  the  frag 
ments  of  the  broken  regiments,  and  took  a  decided  stand  at 
the  edge  of  the  timber.  He  was  determined  not  to  give  way. 
But  this  alone  would  not  nor  did  not  save  the  day.  To  the 
right  of  this  new  line  of  battle,  there  was  a  rise  of  ground. 
From  here  the  woods  abruptly  sloped  to  the  rear.  If  this  ele 
vation  were  once  secured  by  the  Confederates,  all  would  be 
lost  and  rout  would  be  inevitable.  The  quick  eye  of  General 


1 


;   / 


/A 


COPYRIGHT,  1911,   PATRIOT  PUB.  CO. 


PROFESSOR  LOWE  IN  HIS  BALLOON  AT  A  CRITICAL  MOMENT 


As  soon  as  Professor  Lowe's  balloon  soars  above  the  top  of  the  trees  the  Confederate  batteries  will  open  upon  him,  and  for  the  next 
few  moments  shells  and  bullets  from  the  shrapnels  will  be  bursting  and  whistling  about  his  ears.  Then  he  will  pass  out  of  the  danger- 
zone  to  an  altitude  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Confederate  artillery.  After  the  evacuation  of  Yorktown,  May  4,  1862,  Professor  Lowe, 
who  had  been  making  daily  observations  from  his  balloon,  followed  McClellan's  divisions,  which  was  to  meet  Longstreet  next  day  at 
Williamsburg.  On  reaching  the  fortifications  of  the  abandoned  city,  Lowe  directed  the  men  who  were  towing  the  still  inflated  balloon 
in  which  he  was  riding  to  scale  the  corner  of  the  fort  nearest  to  his  old  camp,  where  the  last  gun  had  been  fired  the  night  before.  This 
fort  had  devoted  a  great  deal  of  effort  to  attempting  to  damage  the  too  inquisitive  balloon,  and  a  short  time  previously  one  of  the  best 
Confederate  guns  had  burst,  owing  to  over-charging  and  too  great  an  elevation  to  reach  the  high  altitude.  The  balloonist  had  witnessed 
the  explosion  and  a  number  of  gunners  had  been  killed  and  wounded  within  his  sight.  His  present  visit  was  in  order  to  touch  and 
examine  the  pieces  and  bid  farewell  to  what  he  then  looked  upon  as  a  departed  friend.  This  is  indicated  as  the  same  gun  on  page  371. 


mr 


—  In 


nf 


May 
1862 


Keyes  took  in  the  situation.  He  was  stationed  on  the  left;  to 
reach  the  hill  would  necessitate  taking  his  men  between  the 
battle-lines.  The  distance  was  nearly  eight  hundred  yards. 
Calling  on  a  single  regiment  to  follow  he  made  a  dash  for 
the  position.  The  Southern  troops,  divining  his  intention, 
poured  a  deadly  volley  into  his  ranks  and  likewise  attempted 
to  reach  this  key  to  the  situation.  The  Federals  gained  the 
spot  just  in  time.  The  new  line  was  formed  as  a  heavy  mass 
of  Confederates  came  upon  them.  The  tremendous  Union  fire 
was  too  much  for  the  assaulting  columns,  which  were  checked. 
They  had  forced  the  Federal  troops  back  from  their  entrench 
ments  a  distance  of  two  miles,  but  they  never  got  farther  than 
these  woods.  The  river  fog  now  came  up  as  the  evening  fell 
and  the  Southern  troops  spent  the  night  in  the  captured  camps, 
sleeping  on  their  arms.  The  Federals  fell  back  toward  the 
river  to  an  entrenched  camp. 

Meanwhile  at  Fair  Oaks  Station  the  day  was  saved, 
too,  in  the  nick  of  time,  for  the  Federals.  On  the  north  side 
of  the  Chickahominy  were  stationed  the  two  divisions  of 
Sedgwick  and  Richardson,  under  command  of  General  Sum- 
ner.  Scarcely  had  the  battle  opened  when  McClellan  at  his 
headquarters,  six  miles  away,  heard  the  roar  and  rattle  of 
artillery.  He  was  sick  at  the  time,  but  he  ordered  General 
Sumner  to  be  in  readiness.  At  this  time  there  were  four 
bridges  across  the  river — two  of  them  were  Bottom's  Bridge 
and  the  railroad  bridge.  To  go  by  either  of  these  would  con 
sume  too  much  time  in  case  of  an  emergency.  General  Sum 
ner  had  himself  constructed  two  more  bridges,  lying  between 
the  others.  The  heavy  flood  of  the  preceding  night,  which  was 
still  rising,  had  swept  one  of  these  partially  away.  In  order 
to  save  time,  he  put  his  men  under  arms  and  marched  them 
to  the  end  of  the  upper  bridge  and  there  waited  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  the  afternoon  for  orders  to  cross.  Before 
them  rolled  a  muddy  and  swollen  stream,  above  whose  flood 
was  built  a  rude  and  unstable  structure.  From  the  other  side 


THE  PHOTOGRAPH  THE  BALLOONIST  RECOGNIZED  FORTY-EIGHT  YEARS  AFTER 


"When  I  saw  the  photograph  showing  my  inflation  of  the  balloon  Intrepid  to  reconnoiter  the  battle  of 
Fair  Oaks,"  wrote  Professor  T.  S.  C.  Lowe  in  the  American  Review  of  Reviews  for  February,  1911,  "it  sur 
prised  me  very  much  indeed.  Any  one  examining  the  picture  will  see  my  hand  at  the  extreme  right,  resting 
on  the  network,  where  I  was  measuring  the  amount  of  gas  already  in  the  balloon,  preparatory  to  completing 
the  inflation  from  gas  in  the  smaller  balloon  in  order  that  I  might  ascent  to  a  greater  height.  This  I  did 
within  a  space  of  five  minutes,  saving  a  whole  hour  at  the  most  vital  point  of  the  battle."  A  close  examina 
tion  of  this  photograph  will  reveal  Professor  Lowe's  hand  resting  on  the  network  of  the  balloon,  although  his 
body  is  not  in  the  photograph.  It  truly  is  remarkable  that  Professor  Lowe  should  have  seen  and  recognized, 
nearly  half  a  century  afterward,  this  photograph  taken  at  one  of  the  most  critical  moments  of  his  life. 


atr     as — 


could  be  distinctly  heard  the  roar  of  battle.  The  fate  of  the 
day  and  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  rested  upon  these  men 
at  the  end  of  the  bridge. 

The  possibility  of  crossing  was  doubted  by  everyone, 
including  the  general  himself.  The  bridge  had  been  built  of 
logs,  held  together  and  kept  from  drifting  by  the  stumps  of 
trees.  Over  the  river  proper  it  was  suspended  by  ropes  at 
tached  to  trees,  felled  across  the  stream. 

At  last  the  long-expected  order  to  advance  came.  The 
men  stepped  upon  the  floating  bridge.  It  swayed  to  and  fro 
as  the  solid  column  passed  over  it.  Beneath  the  men 
was  the  angry  flood  which  would  engulf  all  if  the  bridge 
should  fall.  Gradually  the  weight  pressed  it  down  between 
the  solid  stumps  and  it  was  made  secure  till  the  army  had 
crossed.  Had  the  passage  been  delayed  another  hour  the  flood 
would  have  rendered  it  impassable. 

Guided  by  the  roar  of  battle  the  troops  hurried  on.  The 
artillery  was  left  behind  in  the  mud  of  the  Chickahominy. 
The  steady,  rolling  fire  of  musketry  and  the  boom  of  cannon 
told  of  deadly  work  in  front.  It  was  nearly  six  o'clock  before 
Sedgwick's  column  deployed  into  line  in  the  rear  of  Fair  Oaks 
Station.  They  came  not  too  soon.  Just  now  there  was  a  lull 
in  the  battle.  The  Confederates  were  gathering  themselves 
for  a  vigorous  assault  on  their  opponents'  flaming  front. 
Their  lines  were  re-forming.  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston 
himself  had  immediate  command.  President  Jefferson  Davis 
had  come  out  from  his  capital  to  witness  the  contest.  Rap 
idly  the  Confederates  moved  forward.  A  heavy  fusillade 
poured  from  their  batteries  and  muskets.  Great  rents  were 
made  in  the  line  of  blue.  It  did  not  waver.  The  openings  were 
quickly  filled  and  a  scorching  fire  was  sent  into  the  approach 
ing  columns.  Again  and  again  the  charge  was  repeated  only 
to  be  repulsed.  Then  came  the  order  to  fix  bayonets.  Five 
regiments — Thirty-fourth  and  Eighty-second  New  York,  Fif 
teenth  and  Twentieth  Massachusetts  and  Seventh  Michigan 


.-*i^-r— 

J  ....&._ 


THE  SLAUGHTER  FIELD  AT  FAIR  OAKS. 


Over  this  ground  the  fiercest  fighting 
of  the  two  days'  battle  took  place,  on 
May  31,  1862.  Some  400  soldiers 
were  buried  here,  where  they  fell,  and 
their  hastily  dug  graves  appear  plain 
ly  in  the  picture.  In  the  redoubt  seen 
just  beyond  the  two  houses  was  the 
center  of  the  Federal  line  of  battle, 
equi-distant,  about  a  mile  and  a  half, 
from  both  Seven  Pines  and  Fair  Oaks. 
The  entrenchments  near  these  farm 
dwellings  were  begun  on  May  28th  by 
Casey's  Division,  4th  Corps.  There 
was  not  time  to  finish  them  before 
the  Confederate  attack  opened  the 
battle,  and  the  artillery  of  Casey's 
Division  was  hurriedly  placed  in  po 
sition  behind  the  incomplete  works. 


THE  UNFINISHED  REDOUBT. 


In  the  smaller  picture  we  see  the  inside 
of  the  redoubt  at  the  left  background 
of  the  picture  above.  The  scene  is  just 
before  the  battle  and  picks  and  shov 
els  were  still  busy  throwing  up  the 
embankments  to  strengthen  this  cen 
ter  of  the  Federal  defense.  Casey's  ar 
tillery  was  being  hurriedly  brought  up. 
In  the  background  General  Sickles' 
Brigade  appears  drawn  up  in  line  of 
battle.  When  the  Confederates  first 
advanced  Casey's  artillery  did  telling 
work,  handsomely  repelling  the  attack 
early  in  the  afternoon  of  May  31st. 
Later  in  the  day  Confederate  sharp 
shooters  from  vantage  points  in  neigh 
boring  trees  began  to  pick  off  the 
officers  and  the  gunners  and  the  re 
doubt  had  to  be  relinquished.  The 
abandoned  guns  were  turned  against 
the  retreating  Federals. 


THE    "REDHOT    BATTERY." 


On  the  afternoon  of  May  31st,  at  Fair  Oaks,  the  Confederates  were  driving  the  Federal  soldiers  through  the  woods  in  disorder  when 
this  battery  (McCarthy's)  i  :th  Miller's  batten  opened  up  with  so  continuous  and  severe  a  fire  that  the  Federals  wereablel 

make  a  stand  and  hold  tin  for  the  rest  of  tli.>  <i« .    The  guns  grew  so  hot  from  constant  firing  that  it  was  only  with  the  greatest 

care  that  they  could  be  s\  thworks  were  thrown  up  for  McCarthy's  Battery,  Company  C,  1st  Pennsyl 

vania  Artillery,  near  Suva  ; .....      The  i  named  it  the  " Redhot  Battery." 


air  QDaks  —  3ht 


of  Sttdfttumin 


May 
1862 


—pushed  to  the  front.  Into  the  woods  where  the  Confed 
erates  had  fallen  back  the  charge  was  made.  Driving  the 
Southern  lines  back  in  confusion,  these  dashing  columns  saved 
the  day  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Night  was  now  settling  over  the  wooded  field.  Here  and 
there  flashes  of  light  could  be  seen  among  the  oaks,  indicat 
ing  a  diligent  search  for  the  wounded.  General  Johnston 
ordered  his  troops  to  sleep  on  the  field.  A  few  minutes  later 
he  was  struck  by  a  rifle-ball  and  almost  immediately  a  shell 
hit  him,  throwing  him  from  his  horse,  and  he  was  borne  off 
the  field.  The  first  day  of  the  battle  was  over. 

The  disability  of  the  Southern  commander  made  it  possi 
ble  for  the  promotion  of  a  new  leader  upon  whom  the  fortunes 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  wrould  soon  rest.  This  was 
General  Robert  E.  Lee;  although  the  immediate  command  for 
the  next  day's  contest  fell  upon  General  G.  W.  Smith.  Early 
Sunday  morning  the  battle  was  again  in  progress.  The  com 
mand  of  Smith,  near  Fair  Oaks  Station,  advanced  down  the 
railroad,  attacking  Richardson,  whose  lines  were  north  of 
it  and  were  using  the  embankment  as  a  fortification.  Long- 
street's  men  were  south  of  the  railroad.  The  firing  was 
heavy  all  along  this  line,  the  opposing  forces  being  not  more 
than  fifty  yards  from  each  other.  For  an  hour  and  a  half  the 
musketry  fire  was  intensely  heavy.  It  was,  indeed,  a  continu 
ous  roar.  The  line  of  gray  could  not  withstand  the  galling 
fire  and  for  the  first  time  that  day  fell  back.  But  the  Union 
line  had  been  broken,  too.  A  brief  lull  ensued.  Both  sides 
were  gathering  themselves  for  another  onslaught.  It  was  then 
that  there  were  heard  loud  shouts  from  the  east  of  the  railroad. 

There,  coming  through  the  woods,  was  a  large  body  of 
Federal  troops.  They  were  the  men  of  Hooker.  They  formed 
a  magnificent  body  of  soldiers  and  seemed  eager  for  the  fray. 
Turning  in  on  the  Williamsburg  road  they  rapidly  deployed 
to  the  right  and  the  left.  In  front  of  them  was  an  open  field, 
with  a  thick  wood  on  the  other  side.  The  Confederates  had 


A\ 


AIMING  THE  GUNS  AT  FAIR  OAKS. 


Here  we  see  the  beginning  of  the  lull  in  the  fighting  of  the 
second  day  at  Fair  Oaks,  which  it  has  been  asserted  led  to  a  fatal 
delay  and  the  ruin  of  McClellan's  Peninsula  Campaign.  The 
first  day's  battle  at  Fair  Oaks,  May  31,  1862,  was  decidedly  a 
Federal  reverse  which  would  have  developed  into  a  rout  had  not 
Suraner,  crossing  his  troops  on 
the  perilous  Grapevine  Bridge, 
come  up  in  time  to  rally  the 
retreating  men.  Here  we 
see  some  of  them  within 
the  entrenchments  at  Fair 
Oaks  Station  on  the  Rich 
mond  &  York  River  Rail 
road.  The  order  will  soon 
come  to  cease  firing  at  the 
end  of  the  second  day's  fight- 
'  of  which  was  to 
rive  the  Confederates  back  to 
Meridian  did  not 
The  heavy  rainstorm 
on  the  night  of  May  30f  h  had 
made  .  .,  ..^.t  ,;,  artil- 

nely    difficult,    afnd 

•A-tiite--  to  complete 


the     bridges     and      build     entrenchments 
This    delay   gave    the    Confederates    time 
forces    and  place    them    under    the    new 
E.     Lee,     who     while     McClellan      lay 


junction     with     "  Stonewall 


before  advancing, 
to  reorganize  their 
commander,  Robert 
inactive  effected  a 
Jackson.  Then  during  the 
Seven  Days'  Battles 
Lee  steadily  drove  McClellan 
from  his  position,  within  four 
or  five  miles  of  Richmond,  to  a 
new  position  on  the  James 
River.  From  this  secure  and 
advantageous  water  base  Mc 
Clellan  planned  a  new  line 
of  advance  upon  the  Confeder 
ate  Capital.  In  the  smaller 
picture  we  see  the  interior  of 
the  works  at  Fair  Oaks  Station, 
which  were  named  Fort  Sum- 
ner  in  honor  of  the  General  who 
brought  up  his  Second  Corps 
and  saved  the  day.  The  camp 
of  the  Second  Corps  is  seen 
beyond  the  fortifications  to 
the  right. 


FORT  SUMNER,  NEAR  FAIR  OAKS. 


air  (S)aka  —  3ln 


of  Strljmonb 


y 


May 

1862 


posted  themselves  in  this  forest  and  were  waiting  for  their 
antagonists.  The  Federals  marched  upon  the  field  in  double- 
quick  time;  their  movements  became  a  run,  and  they  began 
firing  as  they  dashed  forward.  They  were  met  by  a  withering 
fire  of  field  artillery  and  a  wide  gap  being  opened  in  their 
ranks.  It  immediately  filled.  They  reached  the  edge  of  the 
woods  and  as  they  entered  its  leafy  shadows  the  tide  of  battle 
rolled  in  with  them.  The  front  line  was  lost  to  view  in  the 
forest,  except  for  an  occasional  gleam  of  arms  from  among  the 
trees.  The  din  and  the  clash  and  roar  of  battle  were  heard  for 
miles.  Bayonets  were  brought  into  use.  It  was  almost  a 
\\  \\\\\\%^  hand-to-hand  combat  in  the  heavy  forest  and  tangled  slashings. 
The  sound  of  battle  gradually  subsided,  then  ceased  except  for 
the  intermittent  reports  of  small  arms,  and  the  second  day's 
fight  was  over.  W///A. 

The  Confederate  forces  withdrew  toward  Richmond.  The 
Federal  troops  could  now  occupy  without  molestation  the  posi 
tions  they  held  the  previous  morning.  The  forest  paths  were 
strewn  with  the  dead  and  the  dying.  Many  of  the  wounded 
were  compelled  to  lie  under  the  scorching  sun  for  hours  before 
help  reached  them.  Every  farmhouse  became  an  improvised 
hospital  where  the  suffering  soldiers  lay.  Many  were  placed 
upon  cars  and  taken  across  the  Chickahominy.  The  dead 
horses  were  burned.  The  dead  soldiers,  blue  and  gray,  found 
sometimes  lying  within  a  few  feet  of  each  other,  wrere  buried 
on  the  field  of  battle.  The  two  giants  had  met  in  their  first 
great  combat  and  were  even  now  beginning  to  gird  up  their 
loins  for  a  desperate  struggle  before  the  capital  of  the  Con 
federacy. 


//A 


,  REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


"FLYING  ARTILLERY"  IN  THE  ATTEMPT  ON  RICHMOND 

THE     CANNONEERS     WHO     KEPT    UP    WITH     THE     CAVALRY IN     THIS     SWIFTEST     BRANCH     OF     THE      SERVICE 


EACH    MAN    RIDES   HORSEBACK 


Here  are  drawn  up  Harry  Benson's  Battery  A,  of  the  Second  United  States  Artillery,  and  Horatio  Gates 
Gibson's  Batteries  C  and  G,  combined  of  the  Third  United  States  Artillery,  near  Fair  Oaks,  Virginia.  They 
arrived  there  just  too  late  to  take  part  in  the  battle  of  June,  1862.  By  "horse  artillery, "  or  "  flying  artillery  " 
as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  meant  an  organization  equipped  usually  with  10-pounder  rifled  guns,  with  all 
hands  mounted.  In  ordinary  light  artillery  the  cannoneers  either  ride  on  the  gun-carriage  or  go  afoot.  In 
"  flying  artillery  "  each  cannoneer  has  a  horse.  This  form  is  by  far  the  most  mobile  of  all,  and  is  best  suited  to 
accompany  cavalry  on  account  of  its  ability  to  travel  rapidly.  With  the  exception  of  the  method  of  mounting 
the  cannoneers,  there  was  not  any  difference  between  the  classes  of  field  batteries  except  as  they  were  divided 
between  "light"  and  "heavy. "  In  the  photograph  above  no  one  is  riding  on  the  gun-carriages,  but  all  have 
separate  mounts.  Battery  A  of  the  Second  United  States  Artillery  was  in  Washington  in  January,  1861,  and 
took  part  in  the  expedition  for  the  relief  of  Fort  Pickens,  Florida.  It  went  to  the  Peninsula,  fought  at  Me- 
chanicsville  May  23-24,  1862,  and  took  part  in  the  Seven  Days'  battles  before  Richmond  June  25th  to  July 
1st.  Batteries  C  and  G  of  the  Third  United  States  Artillery  were  at  San  Francisco,  California,  till  October 
1861,  when  they  came  East,  and  also  went  to  the  Peninsula  and  served  at  Yorktown  and  in  the  Seven  Days. 


THE   SHENANDOAH   VALLEY 

Always  mystify,  mislead,  and  surprise  the  enemy,  if  possible,  and 
when  you  strike  and  overcome  him,  never  let  up  in  the  pursuit  so  long  as 
your  m^n  have  strength  to  follow.  .  .  .  The  other  rule  is,  never  fight 
against  heavy  odds,  if  by  any  possible  maneuvering  you  can  hurl  your 
own  force  on  only  a  part,  and  that  the  weakest  part,  of  your  enemy  and 
crush  it.  Such  tactics  will  win  every  time,  and  a  small  army  may  thus 
destroy  a  large  one  in  detail. — "Stonewall"  Jackson. 

THE  main  move  of  the  Union  army,  for  1862,  was  to  be 
McClellan's  advance  up  the  Peninsula  toward  Rich 
mond.  Everything  had  been  most  carefully  planned  by  the 
brilliant  strategist.  With  the  assistance  of  McDowell's  corps, 
he  expected  in  all  confidence  to  be  in  the  Confederate  capital 
before  the  spring  had  closed.  But,  comprehensively  as  he  had 
worked  the  scheme  out,  he  had  neglected  a  factor  in  the  prob 
lem  which  was  destined  in  the  end  to  bring  the  whole  campaign 
to  naught.  This  was  the  presence  of  "  Stonewall "  Jackson 
in  the  Valley  of  Virginia. 

The  strategic  value  to  the  Confederacy  of  this  broad,  shel 
tered  avenue  into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  was  great. 
Along  the  northeasterly  roads  the  gray  legions  could  march 
in  perfect  safety  upon  the  rear  of  Washington  so  long  as  the 
eastern  gaps  could  be  held.  No  wonder  that  the  Federal  au 
thorities,  however  much  concerned  with  other  problems  of  the 
war,  never  removed  a  vigilant  eye  from  the  Valley. 

Jackson  had  taken  possession  of  Winchester,  near  the 
foot  of  the  Valley,  in  November,  1861.  He  then  had  about 
ten  thousand  men.  The  Confederate  army  dwindled  greatly 
during  the  winter.  At  the  beginning  of  March  there  were  but 
forty-five  hundred  men.  With  Banks  and  his  forty  thousand 
now  on  Virginia  soil  at  the  foot  of  the  Valley,  and  Fremont's 


COPYRIGHT,     1911,    REVIEW   OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


"STONEWALL"   JACKSON 
AT  WINCHESTER 

1862 

It  is  the  great  good  fortune  of  American  hero-lovers  that  they  can  gaze  here  upon 
the  features  of  Thomas  Jonathan  Jackson  precisely  as  that  brilliant  Lieutenant- 
General  of  the  Confederate  States  Army  appeared  during  his  masterly  "Valley 
Campaign"  of  1862.  Few  photographers  dared  to  approach  this  man,  whose 
silence  and  modesty  were  as  deep  as  his  mastery  of  warfare.  Jackson  lived  much 
to  himself.  Indeed,  his  plans  were  rarely  known  even  to  his  immediate  subordi 
nates,  and  herein  lay  the  secret  of  those  swift  and  deadly  surprises  that  raised  him 
to  first  rank  among  the  world's  military  figures.  Jackson's  ability  and  efficiency 
won  the  utter  confidence  of  his  ragged  troops;  and  their  marvelous  forced 
marches,  their  contempt  for  privations  if  under  his  guidance,  put  into  his  hands 
a  living  weapon  such  as  no  other  leader  in  the  mighty  conflict  had  ever  wielded. 


army  approaching  the  head,  why  should  the  Federal  com 
mander  even  think  about  this  insignificant  fragment  of  his  foe? 
But  the  records  of  war  have  shown  that  a  small  force,  guided 
by  a  master  mind,  sometimes  accomplishes  more  in  effective 
results  than  ten  times  the  number  under  a  less  active  and  able 
commander. 

The  presence  of  Banks  compelled  Jackson  to  withdraw 
to  Woodstock,  fifty  miles  south  of  Winchester.  If  McClellan 
ever  experienced  any  anxiety  as  to  affairs  in  the  Valley,  it 
seems  to  have  left  him  now,  for  he  ordered  Banks  to  Manassas 
on  March  16th  to  cover  Washington,  leaving  General  Shields 
and  his  division  of  seven  thousand  men  to  hold  the  Valley. 
When  Jackson  heard  of  the  withdrawal,  he  resolved  that,  cut 
off  as  he  was  from  taking  part  in  the  defense  of  Richmond,  he 
would  do  what  he  could  to  prevent  any  aggrandizement  of 
McClellan's  forces. 

Shields  hastened  to  his  station  at  Winchester,  and  Jack 
son,  on  the  23d  of  March,  massed  his  troops  at  Kernstown, 
about  three  miles  south  of  the  former  place.  Deceived  as  to  the 
strength  of  his  adversary,  he  led  his  weary  men  to  an  attack 
on  Shields'  right  flank  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
He  carried  the  ridge  where  the  Federals  were  posted,  but  the 
energy  of  his  troops  was  spent,  and  they  had  to  give  way  to 
the  reserves  of  the  Union  army  after  three  hours  of  stubborn 
contest.  The  Federal  ranks  were  diminished  by  six  hundred; 
the  Confederate  force  by  more  than  seven  hundred.  Kerns- 
town  was  a  Union  victory;  yet  never  in  history  did  victory 
bring  such  ultimate  disaster  upon  the  victors. 

At  Washington  the  alarm  was  intense  over  Jackson's 
audacious  attack.  Williams'  division  of  Banks'  troops  was 
halted  on  its  way  to  Manassas  and  sent  back  to  Winchester. 
Mr.  Lincoln  transferred  Blenker's  division,  nine  thousand 
strong,  to  Fremont.  These  things  were  done  at  once,  but  they 
were  by  no  means  the  most  momentous  consequence  of  Kerns- 
town.  The  President  began  to  fear  that  Jackson's  goal  was 


NANCY  HART 
THE   CONFEDERATE   GUIDE  AND   SPY 


The  women  of  the  mountain  districts  of  Virginia  were  as  ready  to  do  scout  and  spy  work  for  the  Con 
federate  leaders  as  were  their  men-folk.  Famous  among  these  fearless  girls  who  knew  every  inch  of  the 
regions  in  which  they  lived  was  Nancy  Hart.  So  valuable  was  her  work  as  a  guide,  so  cleverly  and  often 
had  she  led  Jackson's  cavalry  upon  the  Federal  outposts  in  West  Virginia,  that  the  Northern  Govern 
ment  offered  a  large  reward  for  her  capture.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Starr  of  the  Ninth  West  Virginia 
finally  caught  her  at  Summerville  in  July,  1862.  While  in  a  temporary  prison,  she  faced  the  camera  for 
the  first  time  in  her  life,  displaying  more  alarm  in  front  of  the  innocent  contrivance  than  if  it  had  been  a 
body  of  Federal  soldiery.  She  posed  for  an  itinerant  photographer,  and  her  captors  placed  the  hat 
decorated  with  a  military  feather  upon  her  head.  Nancy  managed  to  get  hold  of  her  guard's  musket, 
shot  him  dead,  and  escaped  on  Colonel  Starr's  horse  to  the  nearest  Confederate  detachment.  A  few 
days  later,  July  25th,  she  led  two  hundred  troopers  under  Major  Bailey  to  Summerville.  They  reached 
the  town  at  four  in  the  morning,  completely  surprising  two  companies  of  the  Ninth  West  Virginia.  They 
fired  three  houses,  captured  Colonel  Starr,  Lieutenant  Stivers  and  other  officers,  and  a  large  number 
of  the  men,  and  disappeared  immediately  over  the  Sutton  road.  The  Federals  made  no  resistance. 


Washington.  After  consulting  six  of  his  generals  he  became 
convinced  that  McClellan  had  not  arranged  proper  protection 
for  the  city.  Therefore,  McDowell  and  his  corps  of  thirty- 
seven  thousand  men  were  ordered  to  remain  at  Manassas. 
The  Valley  grew  to  greater  importance  in  the  Federal  eyes. 
Banks  was  made  entirely  independent  of  McClellan  and  the 
defense  of  this  region  became  his  sole  task.  McClellan,  to  his 
great  chagrin,  saw  his  force  depleted  by  forty-six  thousand 
men.  There  were  now  four  Union  generals  in  the  East  oper 
ating  independently  one  of  the  other. 

General  Ewell  with  eight  thousand  troops  on  the  upper 
Rappahannock  and  General  Johnson  with  two  brigades  were 
now  ordered  to  cooperate  with  Jackson.  These  reenforce- 
ments  were  badly  needed.  Schenck  and  Milroy,  of  Fremont's 
corps,  began  to  threaten  Johnson.  Banks,  with  twenty  thou 
sand,  was  near  Harrisonburg. 

The  Confederate  leader  left  General  Ewell  to  watch 
Banks  while  he  made  a  dash  for  Milroy  and  Schenck.  He 
fought  them  at  McDowell  on  May  8th  and  they  fled  precipi 
tately  to  rejoin  Fremont.  The  swift-acting  Jackson  now  darted 
at  Banks,  who  had  fortified  himself  at  Strasburg.  Jackson 
stopped  long  enough  to  be  joined  by  Ewell.  He  did  not  attack 
Strasburg,  but  stole  across  the  Massanutten  Mountain  un 
known  to  Banks,  and  made  for  Front  Royal,  where  a  strong 
Union  detachment  was  stationed  under  Colonel  Kenly.  Early 
on  the  afternoon  of  May  23d,  Ewell  rushed  from  the  forest. 
Kenly  and  his  men  fled  before  them  toward  Winchester.  A 
large  number  were  captured  by  the  cavalry  before  they  had 
gotten  more  than  four  miles  away. 

Banks  at  Strasburg  realized  that  Jackson  was  approach 
ing  from  the  rear,  the  thing  he  had  least  expected  and  had 
made  no  provision  for.  His  fortifications  protected  his  front 
alone.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  retreat  to  Win 
chester.  Even  that  was  prevented  by  the  remarkable  speed 
of  Jackson's  men,  who  could  march  as  much  as  thirty-five 


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May 
1862 


miles  a  day.  On  May  24th,  the  Confederates  overtook  and 
struck  the  receding  Union  flank  near  Newtown,  inflicting 
heavy  loss  and  taking  many  prisoners.  Altogether,  three  thou 
sand  of  Banks'  men  fell  into  Jackson's  hands. 

This  exploit  was  most  opportune  for  the  Southern  arms. 
It  caused  the  final  ruin  of  McClellan's  hopes.  Banks  received 
one  more  attack  from  Swell's  division  the  next  day  as  he 
passed  through  Winchester  on  his  way  to  the  shelter  of  the 
Potomac.  He  crossed  at  Williamsport  late  the  same  evening 
and  wrote  the  President  that  his  losses,  though  serious  enough, 
might  have  been  far  worse  "  considering  the  very  great  dis 
parity  of  forces  engaged,  and  the  long-matured  plans_  of  the 
enemy,  which  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  entire  capture  of  our 
force."  Mr.  Lincoln  now  rescinded  his  resolution  to  send  Mc 
Dowell  to  McClellan.  Instead,  he  transferred  twenty  thou 
sand  of  the  former's  men  to  Fremont  and  informed  McClellan 
that  he  was  not,  after  all,  to  have  the  aid  of  McDowell's  forty 
thousand  men. 

Fremont  was  coming  from  the  west;  Shields  lay  in  the 
other  direction,  but  Jackson  was  not  the  man  to  be  trapped. 
He  managed  to  hold  Fremont  while  he  marched  his  main 
force  quickly  up  the  Valley.  At  Port  Republic  he  drove  Car 
roll's  brigade  of  Shields'  division  away  and  took  possession 
of  a  bridge  which  Colonel  Carroll  had  neglected  to  burn. 
Fremont  in  pursuit  was  defeated  by  Ewell  at  Cross  Keys. 
Jackson  immediately  put  his  force  of  twelve  thousand  over  the 
Shenandoah  at  Port  Republic  and  burned  the  bridge.  Safe 
from  the  immediate  attack  by  Fremont,  he  fell  upon  Tyler 
and  Carroll,  who  had  not  more  than  three  thousand  men  be 
tween  them.  The  Federals  made  a  brave  stand,  but  after 
many  hours'  fighting  were  compelled  to  retreat.  Jackson 
emerged  through  Swift  Run  Gap  on  the  17th  of  June,  to  assist 
in  turning  the  Union  right  on  the  Peninsula,  and  Banks  and 
Shields,  baffled  and  checkmated  at  every  move,  finally  withdrew 
from  the  Valley. 


^'/^m\\\\\\l 


1 


1 

///., 


V~\ 


THE  SEVEN  DAYS'  BATTLES 


McClellarfs  one  hope,  one  purpose,  was  to  march  his  army  out  of 
the  swamps  and  escape  from  the  ceaseless  Confederate  assaults  to  a  point 
on  James  River  where  the  resistless  fire  of  the  gunboats,  might  protect  his 
men  from  further  attack  and  give  them  a  chance  to  rest.  To  that  end, 
he  retreated  night  and  day,  standing  at  bay  now  and  then  as  the  hunted 
stag  does,  and  fighting  desperately  for  the  poor  privilege  of  running  away. 

And  the  splendid  fighting  of  his  men  was  a  tribute  to  the  skill  and 
genius  with  which  he  had  created  an  effective  army  out  of  what  he  had 
described  as  "  regiments  cowering  upon  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  some 
perfectly  raw,  others  dispirited  by  recent  defeat,  others  going  home." 
Out  of  a  demoralized  and  disorganized  mass  reenforced  by  utterly  un 
trained  civilians,  McClellan  had  within  a  few  months  created  an  army 
capable  of  stubbornly  contesting  every  inch  of  ground  even  while  effecting 
a  retreat  the  very  thought  of  which  might  well  have  disorganized  an  army. 
—  George  Gary  Eggleston,  in  "  The  History  of  the  Confederate  War" 


ENERAL  LEE  was  determined  that  the  operations  in 
VJT  front  of  Richmond  should  not  degenerate  into  a  siege, 
and  that  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  should  no  longer  be 
on  the  defensive.  To  this  end,  early  in  the  summer  of  1862, 
he  proceeded  to  increase  his  fighting  force  so  as  to  make  it  more 
nearly  equal  in  number  to  that  of  his  antagonist.  Every  man 
who  could  be  spared  from  other  sections  of  the  South  was  called 
to  Richmond.  Numerous  earthworks  soon  made  their  appear 
ance  along  the  roads  and  in  the  fields  about  the  Confederate 
capital,  giving  the  city  the  appearance  of  a  fortified  camp. 
The  new  commander  in  an  address  to  the  troops  said  that  the 
army  had  made  its  last  retreat. 

Mean  while,  with  the  spires  of  Richmond  in  view,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  was  acclimating  itself  to  a  Virginia 
summer.  The  whole  face  of  the  country  for  weeks  had  been  a 


I 


*! 


iaga — (Ulf?  (Enttfrforate  Capital 


veritable  bog.  Now  that  the  sweltering  heat  of  June  was  com 
ing  on,  the  malarious  swamps  were  fountains  of  disease.  The 
polluted  waters  of  the  sluggish  streams  soon  began  to  tell  on 
the  health  of  the  men.  Malaria  and  typhoid  were  prevalent; 
the  hospitals  were  crowded,  and  the  death  rate  was  appalling. 

Such  conditions  were  not  inspiring  to  either  general  or 
army.  McClellari  was  still  hoping  for  substantial  reenforce- 
ments.  McDowell,  with  his  forty  thousand  men,  had  been 
promised  him,  but  he  was  doomed  to  disappointment  from  that 
source.  Yet  in  the  existing  state  of  affairs  he  dared  not  be 
inactive.  South  of  the  Chickahominy,  the  army  was  almost 
secure  from  surprise,  owing  to  well-protected  rifle-pits  flanked 
by  marshy  thickets  or  covered  with  felled  trees.  But  the  Fed 
eral  forces  were  still  divided  by  the  fickle  stream,  and  this  was 
a  constant  source  of  anxiety  to  the  commander.  He  proceeded 
to  transfer  all  of  his  men  to  the  Richmond  side  of  the  river, 
excepting  the  corps  of  Franklin  and  Fitz  John  Porter.  About 
the  middle  of  June,  General  McCall  with  a  force  of  eleven 
thousand  men  joined  the  Federal  army  north  of  the  Chicka 
hominy,  bringing  the  entire  fighting  strength  to  about  one 
hundred  and  five  thousand.  So  long  as  there  remained  the 
slightest  hope  of  additional  soldiers,  it  was  impossible  to  with 
draw  all  of  the  army  from  the  York  side  of  the  Peninsula,  and 
it  remained  divided. 

That  was  a  brilliant  initial  stroke  of  the  Confederate  gen 
eral  when  he  sent  his  famous  cavalry  leader,  J.  E.  B.  Stuart, 
with  about  twelve  hundred  Virginia  troopers,  to  encircle  the 
army  of  McClellan.  Veiling  his  intentions  with  the  utmost 
secrecy,  Stuart  started  June  12,  1862,  in  the  direction  of  Fred- 
ericksburg  as  if  to  reenforce  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson.  The  first 
night  he  bivouacked  in  the  pine  woods  of  Hanover.  No  fires 
were  kindled,  and  when  the  morning  dawned,  his  men  swung 
upon  their  mounts  without  the  customary  bugle-call  of  "  Boots 
and  Saddles."  Turning  to  the  east,  he  surprised  and  captured 
a  Federal  picket;  swinging  around  a  corner  of  the  road,  he 


June 
1862 


MCDOWELL  AND  MCCLELLAN— TWO  UNION  LEADERS  WHOSE 
PLANS  "STONEWALL"  JACKSON  FOILED 

In  General  McCIellan's  plan  for  the  Peninsula  Campaign  of  1862,  General  McDowell,  with  the  First  Army 
Corps  of  37,000  men,  was  assigned  a  m  st  important  part,  that  of  joining  him  before  Richmond.  Lincoln  had 
reluctantly  consented  to  the  plan,  fearing  sufficient  protection  was  not  provided  for  Washington.  By  the 
battle  of  Kernstown,  March  23d,  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  Jackson,  though  defeated,  so  alarmed  the  Ad 
ministration  that  McDowell  was  ordered  to  remain  at  Manassas  to  protect  the  capital.  The  reverse  at  Kerns- 
town  was  therefore  a  real  triumph  for  Jackson,  but  with  his  small  force  he  had  to  keep  up  the  game  of  holding 
McDowell,  Banks,  and  Fremont  from  reenforcing  McClellan.  If  he  failed,  80,000  troops  might  move  up  to 
Richmond  from  the  west  while  McClellan  was  approaching  from  the  North.  But  Jackson,  on  May  23d  and 
25th,  surprised  Banks'  forces  at  Front  Royal  and  Winchester,  forcing  a  retreat  to  the  Potomac.  At  the  news 
of  this  event  McDowell  was  ordered  not  to  join  McClellan  in  front  of  Richmond. 


iaya — ©If?  (Ennfrtorat?  (ttapttal 


suddenly  came  upon  a  squadron  of  Union  cavalry.  The  Con 
federate  yell  rent  the  air  and  a  swift,  bold  charge  by  the  South 
ern  troopers  swept  the  foe  on. 

They  had  not  traveled  far  when  they  came  again  to  a 
force  drawn  up  in  columns  of  fours,  ready  to  dispute  the  pas 
sage  of  the  road.  This  time  the  Federals  were  about  to  make 
the  charge.  A  squadron  of  the  Confederates  moved  forward 
to  meet  them.  Some  Union  skirmishers  in  their  effort  to  get 
to  the  main  body  of  their  troops  swept  into  the  advancing 
Confederates  and  carried  the  front  ranks  of  the  squadron  with 
them.  These  isolated  Confederates  found  themselves  in  an 
extremely  perilous  position,  being  gradually  forced  into  the 
Federal  main  body.  Before  they  could  extricate  themselves, 
nearly  every  one  in  the  unfortunate  front  rank  was  shot  or 
cut  down. 

The  Southern  cavalrymen  swept  on  and  presently  found 
themselves  nearing  the  York  River  Railroad — McClellan's 
supply  line.  As  they  approached  Tunstall's  Station  they 
charged  down  upon  it,  with  their  characteristic  yell,  completely 
surprising  a  company  of  Federal  infantry  stationed  there. 
These  at  once  surrendered.  Telegraph  wires  were  cut  and  a 
tree  felled  across  the  track  to  obstruct  the  road.  This  had 
hardly  been  done  before  the  shriek  of  a  locomotive  Avas  heard. 
A  train  bearing  Union  troops  came  thundering  along,  ap 
proaching  the  station.  The  engineer,  taking  in  the  situation 
at  a  glance,  put  on  a  full  head  of  steam  and  made  a  rush  for 
the  obstruction,  which  was  easily  brushed  aside.  As  the  train 
went  through  a  cut  the  Confederates  fired  upon  it,  wounding 
and  killing  some  of  the  Federal  soldiers  in  the  cars. 

Riding  all  through  a  moonlit  night,  the  raiders  reached 
Sycamore  Ford  of  the  Chickahominy  at  break  of  day.  As 
usual  this  erratic  stream  was  overflowing  its  banks.  They 
started  to  ford  it,  but  finding  that  it  would  be  a  long  and 
wearisome  task,  a  bridge  was  hastily  improvised  at  another 
place  where  the  passage  was  made  with  more  celerity.  Now, 


JOHNSTON   AND   LEE— A   PHOTOGRAPH   OF    1809. 


Copyright  by  Review  of  Reviews  Co. 


These  men  look  enough  alike  to  be  brothers.  They  were  so  in  arms,  at  West  Point,  in  Mexico  and  throughout  the  war.  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston  (on  the  left),  who  had  led  the  Confederate  forces  since  Bull  Run,  was  wounded  at  Fair  Oaks.  That  wound  gave 
Robert  E.  Lee  (on  the  right)  his  opportunity  to  act  as  leader.  After  Fair  Oaks,  Johnston  retired  from  the  command  of  the  army 
defending  Richmond.  The  new  commander  immediately  grasped  the  possibilities  of  the  situation  which  confronted  him.  The 
promptness  and  completeness  with  which  he  blighted  McClellan's  high  hopes  of  reaching  Richmond  showed  at  one  stroke  that  the  Con 
federacy  had  found  its  great  general.  It  was  only  through  much  sifting  that  the  North  at  last  picked  military  leaders  that  could 
rival  him  in  the  field. 


Glaptial 


•$• 


June 
1862 


on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  haste  was  made  for  the  con 
fines  of  Richmond,  where,  at  dawn  of  the  following  day,  the 
troopers  dropped  from  their  saddles,  a  weary  but  happy  body 
of  cavalry.  W/'M 

Lee  thus  obtained  exact  and  detailed  information  of  the 
position  of  McClellan's  army,  and  he  laid  out  his  campaign 
accordingly.  Meanwhile  his  own  forces  in  and  about  Rich 
mond  were  steadily  increasing.  He  was  planning  for  an  army 
of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  and  he  now  demonstrated  his 
ability  as  a  strategist.  Word  had  been  despatched  to  Jackson 
in  the  Shenandoah  to  bring  his  troops  to  fall  upon  the  right 
wing  of  McClellan's  army.  At  the  same  time  Lee  sent  Gen 
eral  Whiting  north  to  make  a  feint  of  joining  Jackson  and 
moving  upon  Washington.  The  ruse  proved  eminently  suc 
cessful.  The  authorities  at  Washington  were  frightened,  and 
McClellan  received  no  more  reenf  or  cements.  Jackson  now 
began  a  hide-and-seek  game  among  the  mountains,  and  man 
aged  to  have  rumors  spread  of  his  army  being  in  several  places 
at  the  same  time,  while  skilfully  veiling  his  actual  movements. 

It  was  not  until  the  25th  of  June  that  McClellan  had 
definite  knowledge  of  Jackson's  whereabouts.  He  was  then 
located  at  Ashland,  north  of  the  Chickahominy,  within  strik 
ing  distance  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  McClellan  was 
surprised  but  he  was  not  unprepared.  Seven  days  before 
he  had  arranged  for  a  new  base  of  supplies  on  the  James, 
which  would  now  prove  useful  if  he  were  driven  south  of  the 
Chickahominy. 

On  the  very  day  he  heard  of  Jackson's  arrival  at  Ashland, 
McClellan  was  pushing  his  men  forward  to  begin  his  siege  of 
Richmond — that  variety  of  warfare  which  his  engineering 
soul  loved  so  well.  His  advance  guard  was  within  four  miles 
of  the  Confederate  capital.  His  strong  fortifications  were 
bristling  upon  every  vantage  point,  and  his  fond  hope  was 
that  within  a  few  days,  at  most,  his  efficient  artillery,  for 
which  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  famous,  would  be 


/// ' 

'//// 

//  if 


THE  FLEET  THAT  FED  THE  ARMY 


THE  ABANDONED  BASE 


White  House,  Virginia,  June  27,  1862.— Up  the  James  and  the  Pamunkey  to  White  House  Landing  came  the  steam  and  sailing  vessels 
laden  with  supplies  for  McClellan's  second  attempt  to  reach  Richmond.  Tons  of  ammunition  and  thousands  of  rations  were  sent  for 
ward  from  here  to  the  army  on  the  Chickahominy  in  June,  1862.  A  short  month  was  enough  to  cause  McClellan  to  again  change  his 
plans,  and  the  army  base  was  moved  to  the  James  River.  The  Richmond  and  York  Railroad  was  lit  up  by  burning  cars  along  its 
course  to  the  Chickahominy.  Little  was  left  to  the  Confederates  save  the  charred  ruins  of  the  White  House  itself. 


— Sty?  (Eimfrforai?  Capital 


r\ 


belching  fortli  its  sheets  of  fire  and  lead  into  the  beleagured 
city.  In  front  of  the  Union  encampment,  near  Fair  Oaks,  was 
a  thick  entanglement  of  scrubby  pines,  vines,  and  ragged 
bushes,  full  of  ponds  and  marshes.  This  strip  of  woodland 
was  less  than  five  hundred  yards  wide.  Beyond  it  was  an  open 
field  half  a  mile  in  width.  The  Union  soldiers  pressed  through 
the  thicket  to  see  what  was  on  the  other  side  and  met  the  Con 
federate  pickets  among  the  trees.  The  advancing  column 
drove  them  back.  Upon  emerging  into  the  open,  the  Federal 
troops  found  it  filled  with  rifle-pits,  earthworks,  and  redoubts. 
At  once  they  were  met  with  a  steady  and  incessant  fire,  which 
continued  from  eight  in  the  morning  until  five  in  the  afternoon. 
At  times  the  contest  almost  reached  the  magnitude  of  a  battle, 
and  in  the  end  the  Union  forces  occupied  the  former  position 
of  their  antagonists.  This  passage  of  arms,  sometimes  called 
the  affair  of  Oak  Grove  or  the  Second  Battle  of  Fair  Oaks, 
was  the  prelude  to  the  Seven  Days'  Battles. 

The  following  day,  June  26th,  had  been  set  by  General 
"  Stonewall  "  Jackson  as  the  date  on  which  he  would  join  Lee, 
and  together  they  would  fall  upon  the  right  wing  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  The  Federals  north  of  the  Chickahominy 
were  under  the  direct  command  of  General  Fitz  John  Porter. 
Defensive  preparations  had  been  made  on  an  extensive  scale. 
Field  works,  heavily  armed  with  artillery,  and  rifle-pits,  well 
manned,  covered  the  roads  and  open  fields  and  were  often  con 
cealed  by  timber  from  the  eye  of  the  opposing  army.  The 
extreme  right  of  the  Union  line  lay  near  Mechanicsville  on  the 
upper  Chickahominy.  A  tributary  of  this  stream  from  the 
north  was  Beaver  Dam  Creek,  upon  whose  left  bank  was  a 
steep  bluff,  commanding  the  valley  to  the  west.  This  naturally 
strong  position,  now  well  defended,  was  almost  impregnable 
to  an  attack  from  the  front. 

Before  sunrise  of  the  appointed  day  the  Confederate 
forces  were  at  the  Chickahominy  bridges,  awaiting  the  ar 
rival  of  Jackson.  To  reach  these  some  of  the  regiments  had 


ELLERSOX'S   MILL— WHERE  HILL  ASSAULTED. 

Not  until  after  nightfall  of  June  26,  1862,  did  the  Confederates  of  General  A.  P.  Hill's  division  cease  their  assaults  upon  this 
position  where  General  McCall's  men  were  strongly  entrenched.  Time  after  time  the  Confederates  charged  over  the  ground  we  see 
here  at  Ellerson's  Mill,  near  Mechanicsville.  Till  9  o'clock  at  night  they  continued  to  pour  volleys  at  the  position,  and  then  at  last 
withdrew.  The  victory  was  of  little  use  to  the  Federals,  for  Jackson  on  the  morrow,  having  executed  one  of  the  flanking  night 
marches  at  which  he  was  an  adept,  fell  upon  the  Federal  rear  at  Games'  Mill. 


THE  WASTE -OF   WAR 

Railroad  trains  loaded  with  tons  of  food  and  ammunition  were  run  deliberately  at  full  speed  off  the  embankment  shown  in  the  left 
foreground.  They  plunged  headlong  into  the  waters  of  the  Pamunkey.  This  was  the  readiest  means  that  McClellan  could  devise 
for  keeping  his  immense  quantity  of  stores  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Confederates  in  his  hasty  change  of  base  from  White  House  to  the 
James  after  Games'  Mill.  This  was  the  bridge  of  the  Richmond  and  York  River  Railroad,  and  was  destroyed  June  28,  1862,  to 
render  the  railroad  useless  to  the  Confederates. 


Olapttal 


June 
1862 


marched  the  greater  part  of  the  night.  For  once  Jackson 
was  behind  time.  The  morning  hours  came  and  went.  Noon 
passed  and  Jackson  had  not  arrived.  At  three  o'clock,  Gen 
eral  A.  P.  Hill,  growing  impatient,  decided  to  put  his  troops 
in  motion.  Crossing  at  Meadow  Bridge,  he  marched  his  men 
along  the  north  side  of  the  Chickahominy,  and  at  Mechanics- 
ville  was  joined  by  the  commands  of  Longstreet  and  D.  H. 
Hill.  Driving  the  Union  outposts  to  cover,  the  Confederates 
swept  across  the  low  approach  to  Beaver  Dam  Creek.  A  mur 
derous  fire  from  the  batteries  on  the  cliff  poured  into  their 
ranks.  Gallantly  the  attacking  columns  withstood  the  deluge 
of  leaden  hail  and  drew  near  the  creek.  A  few  of  the  more 
aggressive  reached  the  opposite  bank  but  their  repulse  was 
severe. 

Later  in  the  afternoon  relief  was  sent  to  Hill,  who  again 
attempted  to  force  the  Union  position  at  Ellerson's  Mill, 
where  the  slope  of  the  west  bank  came  close  to  the  borders  of 
the  little  stream.  From  across  the  open  fields,  in  full  view  of 
the  defenders  of  the  cliff,  the  Confederates  moved  down  the 
slope.  They  were  in  range  of  the  Federal  batteries,  but  the 
fire  was  reserved.  Every  artilleryman  was  at  his  post  ready 
to  fire  at  the  word;  the  soldiers  were  in  the  rifle-pits  sighting 
along  the  glittering  barrels  of  their  muskets  with  fingers  on 
the  triggers.  As  the  approaching  columns  reached  the  stream 
they  turned  with  the  road  that  ran  parallel  to  the  bank. 

From  every  waiting  field-piece  the  shells  came  screaming 
through  the  air.  Volley  after  volley  of  musketry  was  poured 
into  the  flanks  of  the  marching  Southerners.  The  hillside  was 
soon  covered  with  the  victims  of  the  gallant  charge.  Twilight 
fell  upon  the  warring  troops  and  there  were  no  signs  of  a  ces 
sation  of  the  unequal  combat.  Night  fell,  and  still  from  the 
heights  the  lurid  flames  burst  in  a  display  of  glorious  pyro 
technics.  It  was  nine  o'clock  when  Hill  finally  drew  back  his 
shattered  regiments,  to  await  the  coming  of  the  morning.  The 
Forty-fourth  Georgia  regiment  suffered  most  in  the  fight; 


1 


THE  BRIDGE  THAT  STOOD 

The  force  under  General  McCall  was  stationed  by  McClellan  on  June  19,  1862,  to  observe  the  Meadow  and  Mechanicsville  bridges 
over  the  Chickahominy  which  had  only  partially  been  destroyed.  On  the  afternoon  of  June  2Gth,  General  A.  P.  Hill  crossed  at  Meadow 
Bridge,  driving  the  Union  skirmish-line  back  to  Beaver  Dam  Creek.  The  divisions  of  D.  H.  Hill  and  Longstreet  had  been  waiting  at 
Mechanicsville  Bridge  (shown  in  this  photograph)  since  8  A.M.  for  A.  P.  Hill  to  open  the  way  for  them  to  cross.  They  passed  over  in 
time  to  bear  a  decisive  part  in  the  Confederate  attack  at  Gaines'  Mill  on  the  27th. 


DOING  DOUBLE  DUTY 

Here  are  some  of  McClellan's  staff-officers  during  the  strenuous  period  of  the  Seven  Days'  Battles.  One  commonly  supposes  that  a 
general's  staff  has  little  to  do  but  wear  gold  lace  and  transmit  orders.  But  it  is  their  duty  to  multiply  the  eyes  and  ears  and  thinking 
power  of  the  leader.  Without  them  he  could  not  direct  the  movements  of  his  army.  There  were  so  few  regular  officers  of  ripe  ex 
perience  that  members  of  the  staff  were  invariably  made  regimental  commanders,  and  frequently  were  compelled  to  divide  their  time 
between  leading  their  troops  into  action  and  reporting  to  and  consulting  with  their  superior. 


Saga  — 


(Eapttal 


June 
1862 


, 


three  hundred  and  thirty-five  being  the  dreadful  toll,  in  dead 
and  wounded,  paid  for  its  efforts  to  break  down  the  Union 
position.  Dropping  back  to  the  rear  this  ill-fated  regiment 
attempted  to  re-form  its  broken  ranks,  but  its  officers  were  all 
among  those  who  had  fallen.  Both  armies  now  prepared  for 
another  day  and  a  renewal  of  the  conflict. 

The  action  at  Beaver  Dam  Creek  convinced  McClellan 
that  Jackson  was  really  approaching  with  a  large  force,  and 
he  decided  to  begin  his  change  of  base  from  the  Pamunkey 
to  the  James,  leaving  Porter  and  the  Fifth  Corps  still  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  to  prevent  Jackson's  fresh 
troops  from  interrupting  this  great  movement.  It  was,  indeed, 
a  gigantic  undertaking,  for  it  involved  marching  an  army  of 
a  hundred  thousand  men,  including  cavalry  and  artillery, 
across  the  marshy  peninsula.  A  train  of  five  thousand  heavily 
loaded  wagons  and  many  siege-guns  had  to  be  transported; 
nearly  three  thousand  cattle  on  the  hoof  had  to  be  driven. 
From  White  House  the  supplies  could  be  shipped  by  the  York 
River  Railroad  as  far  as  Savage's  Station.  Thence  to  the 
James,  a  distance  of  seventeen  miles,  they  had  to  be  carried 
overland  along  a  road  intersected  by  many  others  from  which 
a  watchful  opponent  might  easily  attack.  General  Casey's 
troops,  guarding  the  supplies  at  White  House,  were  trans 
ferred  by  way  of  the  York  and  the  James  to  Harrison's  Land 
ing  on  the  latter  river.  The  transports  were  loaded  with  all 
the  material  they  could  carry.  The  rest  was  burned,  or  put 
in  cars.  These  cars,  with  locomotives  attached,  were  then  run 
into  the  river. 

On  the  night  of  June  26th,  McCall's  Federal  division,  at 
Beaver  Dam  Creek,  was  directed  to  fall  back  to  the  bridges 
across  the  Chickahominy  near  Games'  Mill  and  there  make 
a  stand,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  Confederate  army. 
During  the  night  the  wragon  trains  and  heavy  guns  were 
quietly  moved  across  the  river.  Just  before  daylight  the  oper 
ation  of  removing  the  troops  began.  The  Confederates  were 


*  iAi'-   *•  ' 


THE  RETROGRADE  CROSSING. 


LOWER  BRIDGE  ON  THE  CHICKAHOMINY 

Woodbury's  Bridge  on  the  Chickahominy.  Little  did  General  D.  F.  Woodbury's  engineers  suspect,  when  they  built  this  bridge, 
early  in  June,  1862,  as  a  means  of  communication  between  the  divided  wings  of  McClellan's  army  on  the  Chickahominy  that  it  would 
be  of  incalculable  service  during  battle.  When  the  right  wing,  under  General  Fitz  John  Porter,  was  engaged  on  the  field  of  Games' 
Mill  against  almost  the  entire  army  of  Lee,  across  this  bridge  the  division  of  General  Slocum  marched  from  its  position  in  the  trenches 
in  front  of  Richmond  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river  to  the  support  of  Porter's  men.  The  battle  lasted  until,  nightfall  and  then  the 
Federal  troops  moved  across  this  bridge  and  rejoined  the  main  forces  of  the  Federal  army.  Woodbury's  engineers  built  several  bridges 
across  the  Chickahominy,  but  among  them  all  the  bridge  named  for  their  commander  proved  to  be,  perhaps,  the  most  serviceable. 


—  Qllf? 


(Capital  J^mirf* 


^ 


? 


equally  alert,  for  about  the  same  time  they  opened  a  heavy  fire 
on  the  retreating  columns.  This  march  of  five  miles  was  a 
continuous  skirmish;  but  the  Union  forces,  ably  and  skilfully 
handled,  succeeded  in  reaching  their  new  position  on  the  Chick- 
ahominy  heights. 

The  morning  of  the  new  day  was  becoming  hot  and  sultry 
as  the  men  of  the  Fifth  Corps  made  ready  for  action  in  their 
new  position.  The  selection  of  this  ground  had  been  well 
made;  it  occupied  a  series  of  heights  fronted  on  the  west  by 
a  sickle-shaped  stream.  The  battle-lines  followed  the  course 
of  this  creek,  in  the  arc  of  a  circle  curving  outward  in  the 
direction  of  the  approaching  army.  The  land  beyond  the 
creek  was  an  open  country,  through  which  Powhite  Creek 
meandered  sluggishly,  and  beyond  this  a  wood  densely  tan 
gled  with  undergrowth.  Around  the  Union  position  were  also 
many  patches  of  wooded  land  affording  cover  for  the  troops 
and  screening  the  reserves  from  view. 

Porter  had  learned  from  deserters  and  others  that  Jack 
son's  forces,  united  to  those  of  Longstreet  and  the  two  Hills, 
wrere  advancing  with  grim  determination  to  annihilate  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  had  less  than  eighteen  thousand 
men  to  oppose  the  fifty  thousand  Confederates.  To  protect 
the  Federals,  trees  had  been  felled  along  a  small  portion  of 
their  front,  out  of  which  barriers  protected  with  rails  and 
knapsacks  were  erected.  Porter  had  considerable  artillery,  but 
only  a  small  part  of  it  could  be  used.  It  was  two  o'clock,  on 
June  27th,  when  General  A.  P.  Hill  swung  his  division  into 
line  for  the  attack.  He  was  unsupported  by  the  other  divisions, 
which  had  not  yet  arrived,  but  his  columns  moved  rapidly 
toward  the  Union  front.  The  assault  was  terrific,  but  twenty- 
six  guns  threw  a  hail-storm  of  lead  into  his  ranks.  Under  the 
cover  of  this  magnificent  execution  of  artillery,  the  infantry 
sent  messages  of  death  to  the  approaching  lines  of  gray. 

The  Confederate  front  recoiled  from  the  incessant  out 
pour  of  grape,  canister,  and  shell.  The  heavy  cloud  of  battle 


I 


fftt 


'//// 


/A 
//A 


A  VAIN  HIDE  TO  SAFETY 

During  the  retreat  after  Games'  Mill,  McClellan's  army  was  straining  every  nerve  to  extricate  itself  and  present  a  strong  front  to 
Lee  before  he  could  strike  a  telling  blow  at  its  untenable  position.  Wagon  trains  were  struggling  across  the  almost  impassable  White 
Oak  Swamp,  while  the  troops  were  striving  to  hold  Savage's  Station  to  protect  the  movement.  Thither  on  flat  cars  were  sent  the 
wounded  as  we  see  them  in  the  picture.  The  rear  guard  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  hastily  provided  such  field  hospital  facili 
ties  as  they  could.  We  see  the  camp  near  the  railroad  with  the  passing  wagon  trains  in  the  lower  picture.  But  attention  to  these 
wounded  men  was,  perforce,  secondary  to  the  necessity  of  holding  the  position.  Their  hopes  of  relief  from  their  suffering  were  to  be 
blighted.  Lee  was  about  to  fall  upon  the  Federal  rear  guard  at  Savage's  Station.  Instead  of  to  a  haven  of  refuge,  these  men  were 
being  railroaded  toward  the  field  of  carnage,  where  they  must  of  necessity  be  left  by  their  retreating  companions. 


THE  STAND  AT  SAVAGE'S  STATION 

Here  we  see  part  of  the  encampment  to  hold  which  the  divisions  of  Richardson,  Sedgwick,  Smith,  and  Franklin  fought  valiantly  when 
Magruder  and  the  Confederates  fell  upon  them,  June  29,  1862.  Along  the  Richmond  &  York  River  Railroad,  seen  in  the  picture, 
the  Confederates  rolled  a  heavy  rifled  gun,  mounted  on  car-wheels.  They  turned  its  deadly  fire  steadily  upon  the  defenders.  The 
Federals  fought  fiercely  and  managed  to  hold  their  ground  till  nightfall,  when  hundreds  of  their  bravest  soldiers  lay  on  the  field 
and  had  to  be  left  alone  with  their  wounded  comrades  who  had  arrived  on  the  flat  cars. 


lags — SIj?  (Ennfrtorate  (Eapttal 


IV 

J 


smoke  rose  lazily  through  the  air,  twisting  itself  among  the 
trees  and  settling  over  the  forest  like  a  pall.  The  tremendous 
momentum  of  the  repulse  threw  the  Confederates  into  great 
confusion.  Men  were  separated  from  their  companies  and 
for  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  a  rout  were  imminent.  The  Federals, 
pushing  out  from  under  the  protection  of  their  great  guns, 
now  became  the  assailants.  The  Southerners  were  being  driven 
back.  Many  had  left  the  field  in  disorder.  Others  threw 
themselves  on  the  ground  to  escape  the  withering  fire,  while 
some  tenaciously  held  their  places.  This  lasted  for  two  hours. 
General  Slocum  arrived  with  his  division  of  Franklin's  corps, 
and  his  arrival  increased  the  ardor  of  the  victorious  Federals. 

It  was  then  that  Lee  ordered  a  general  attack  upon  the 
entire  Union  front.  Reenforcements  were  brought  to  take  the 
place  of  the  shattered  regiments.  The  engagement  began  with 
a  sharp  artillery  fire  from  the  Confederate  guns.  Then  the 
troops  moved  forward,  once  more  to  assault  the  Union  posi 
tion.  In  the  face  of  a  heavy  fire  they  rushed  across  the  sedgy 
lowland,  pressed  up  the  hillside  at  fearful  sacrifice  and  pushed 
against  the  Union  front.  It  was  a  death  grapple  for  the 
mastery  of  the  field.  General  Lee,  sitting  on  his  horse  on 
an  eminence  where  he  could  observe  the  progress  of  the  battle, 
saw,  coming  down  the  road,  General  Hood,  of  Jackson's  corps, 
who  was  bringing  his  brigade  into  the  fight.  Riding  forward 
to  meet  him,  Lee  directed  that  he  should  try  to  break  the  line. 
Hood,  disposing  his  men  for  the  attack,  sent  them  forward, 
but,  reserving  the  Fourth  Texas  for  his  immediate  command, 
he  marched  it  into  an  open  field,  halted,  and  addressed  it,  giv 
ing  instructions  that  no  man  should  fire  until  ordered  and  that 
all  should  keep  together  in  line. 

The  forward  march  was  sounded,  and  the  intrepid  Hood, 
leading  his  men,  started  for  the  Union  breastworks  eight  hun 
dred  yards  away.  They  moved  at  a  rapid  pace  across  the  open, 
under  a  continually  increasing  shower  of  shot  and  shell.  At 
every  step  the  ranks  grew  thinner  and  thinner.  As  they 


••*•  * 


i-  v>*- 


^i>     » 

jSi*  % 


•  *:/R» 


V         >» 

•**,. 


^^ 


v 


ri? 


> 


' 


* 


A   GRIM   CAPTURE 

The  Second  and  Sixth  Corps  of  the  Federal  Army  repelled  a  desperate  attack  of  General  Magruder  at  Sav 
age  Station  on  June  29th.  The  next  day  they  disappeared,  plunging  into  the  depths  of  White  Oak  Swamp, 
leaving  only  the  brave  medical  officers  behind,  doing  what  they  could  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  the  men 
that  had  to  be  abandoned.  Here  we  see  them  at  work  upon  the  wounded,  who  have  been  gathered  from 
the  field.  Nothing  but  the  strict  arrest  of  the  stern  sergeant  Death  can  save  these  men  from  capture,  and 
when  the  Confederates  occupied  Savage's  Station  on  the  morning  of  June  30th,  twenty-five  hundred  sick 
and  wounded  men  and  their  medical  attendants  became  prisoners  of  war.  The  Confederate  hospital  facil 
ities  were  already  taxed  to  their  full  capacity  in  caring  for  Lee's  wounded,  and  most  of  these  men  were 
confronted  on  that  day  with  the  prospect  of  lingering  for  months  in  the  military  prisons  of  the  South.  The 
brave  soldiers  lying  helpless  here  were  wounded  at  Games'  Mill  on  June  27th  and  removed  to  the  great 
field-hospital  established  at  Savage's  Station.  The  photograph  was  taken  just  before  Sumner  and  Franklin 
withdrew  the  rear-guard  of  their  columns  on  the  morning  of  June  30th. 


lap  — 


QIapttal 


June 
1862 


reached  the  crest  of  a  small  ridge,  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
from  the  Union  line,  the  batteries  in  front  and  on  the  flank 
sent  a  storm  of  shell  and  canister  plowing  into  their  already 
depleted  files.  They  quickened  their  pace  as  they  passed  down 
the  slope  and  across  the  creek.  Not  a  shot  had  they  fired  and 
amid  the  sulphurous  atmosphere  of  battle,  with  the  wing  of 
death  hovering  over  all,  they  fixed  bayonets  and  dashed  up  the 
hill  into  the  Federal  line.  With  a  shout  they  plunged  through 
the  felled  timber  and  over  the  breastworks.  The  Union  line 
had  been  pierced  and  was  giving  way.  It  was  falling  back 
toward  the  Chickahominy  bridges,  and  the  retreat  was  threaten 
ing  to  develop  into  a  general  rout.  The  twilight  was  closing 
in  and  the  day  was  all  but  lost  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
Now  a  great  shout  was  heard  from  the  direction  of  the  bridge ; 
and,  pushing  through  the  stragglers  at  the  river  bank  were  seen 
the  brigades  of  French  and  Meagher,  detached  from  Sumner's 
corps,  coming  to  the  rescue.  General  Meagher,  in  his  shirt 
sleeves,  was  leading  his  men  up  the  bluff  and  confronted  the 
Confederate  battle  line.  This  put  a  stop  to  the  pursuit  and 
as  night  was  at  hand  the  Southern  soldiers  withdrew.  The 
battle  of  Games'  Mill,  or  the  Chickahominy,  was  over. 

When  Lee  came  to  the  banks  of  the  little  river  the  next 
morning  he  found  his  opponent  had  crossed  over  and  destroyed 
the  bridges.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  once  more  united. 
During  the  day  the  Federal  wagon  trains  were  safely  passed 
over  White  Oak  Swamp  and  then  moved  on  toward  the  James 
River.  Lee  did  not  at  first  divine  McClellan's  intention.  He 
still  believed  that  the  Federal  general  would  retreat  down 
the  Peninsula,  and  hesitated  therefore  to  cross  the  Chicka 
hominy  and  give  up  the  command  of  the  lower  bridges.  But 
now  on  the  29th  the  signs  of  the  movement  to  the  James  were 
unmistakable.  Eiarly  on  that  morning  Longstreet  and  A.  P. 
Hill  were  ordered  to  recross  the  Chickahominy  by  the  New 
Bridge  and  Huger  and  Magruder  were  sent  in  hot  pursuit  of 
the  Federal  forces.  It  was  the  brave  Sumner  who  covered  the 


J 


39F-" 


• , 


THE  TANGLED  RETREAT 


L'opyriyht  by  Patriot  Pub.  Ci 


Through  this  well-nigh  unpayable  morass  of  White  Oak  Swamp,  across  a  single  long  bridge,  McClellan  s  wagon  trams  were  being 
hurried  the  last  days  of  June,  1862.     On  the  morning  of  the  30th,  the  rear-guard  of  the  army  was  hastily  tramping  after  them    am 
by  ten  o'clock  had  safely  crossed  and  destroyed  the  bridge.     They  had  escaped  in  the  nick  of  time,  for  at  noon    Stonewall 
opened  fire  upon  Richardson's  division  and  a  terrific  artillery  battle  ensued  for  the  possession  of  th.s,  the  single  crossing  by  which  it 
was  possible  to  attack  McClellan's  rear.    The  Federal  batteries  were  compelled  to  retire  but  Jackson  s  crossmg  was  preven 
that  day  by  the  infantry. 


laya — ufy?  Ohmfrforai?  Gkpttal 


march  of  the  retreating  army,  and  as  he  stood  in  the  open  field 
near  Savage's  Station  he  looked  out  over  the  plain  and  saw 
with  satisfaction  the  last  of  the  ambulances  and  wagons  mak 
ing  their  way  toward  the  new  haven  on  the  James. 

In  the  morning  of  that  same  day  he  had  already  held  at 
bay  the  forces  of  Magruder  at  Allen's  Farm.  On  his  way 
from  Fair  Oaks,  which  he  left  at  daylight,  he  had  halted  his 
men  at  what  is  known  as  the  "  Peach  Orchard,"  and  from 
nine  o'clock  till  eleven  had  resisted  a  spirited  fire  of  musketry 
and  artillery.  And  now  as  the  grim  warrior,  on  this  Sunday 
afternoon  in  June,  turned  his  eyes  toward  the  Chickahominy 
he  saw  a  great  cloud  of  dust  rising  on  the  horizon.  It  was 
raised  by  the  troops  of  General  Magruder  who  was  pressing 
close  behind  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  Southern  field- 
guns  were  placed  in  position.  A  contrivance,  consisting  of  a 
heavy  gun  mounted  on  a  railroad  car  and  called  the  "  Land 
Merrimac,"  was  pushed  into  position  and  opened  fire  upon  the 
Union  forces.  The  battle  began  with  a  fine  play  of  artillery. 
For  an  hour  not  a  musket  was  fired.  The  army  of  blue 
remained  motionless.  Then  the  mass  of  gray  moved  across 
the  field  and  from  the  Union  guns  the  long  tongues  of  flame 
darted  into  the  ranks  before  them.  The  charge  was  met  with 
vigor  and  soon  the  battle  raged  over  the  entire  field.  Both 
sides  stood  their  ground  till  darkness  again  closed  the  contest, 
and  nearly  eight  hundred  brave  men  had  fallen  in  this  Sabbath 
evening's  battle.  Before  midnight  Simmer  had  withdrawn  his 
men  and  was  following  after  the  wagon  trains. 

The  Confederates  were  pursuing  McClellan's  army  in  two 
columns,  Jackson  closely  following  Sumner,  while  Longstreet 
was  trying  to  cut  off  the  Union  forces  by  a  flank  movement. 
On  the  last  day  of  June,  at  high  noon,  Jackson  reached  the 
White  Oak  Swamp.  But  the  bridge  was  gone.  He  attempted 
to  ford  the  passage,  but  the  Union  troops  were  there  to  prevent 
it.  While  Jackson  was  trying  to  force  his  way  across  the 
stream,  there  came  to  him  the  sound  of  a  desperate  battle  being 


';'•*** 


HEROES  OF  MALVERN  HILL 

Brigadier-General  J.  H.  Martindale  (seated)  and  his  staff,  July  1,  1862.  Fitz  John  Porter's  Fifth  Corps  and  Couch's  division,  Fourth 
Corps,  bore  the  brunt  of  battle  at  Malvern  Hill  where  the  troops  of  McClellan  withstood  the  terrific  attacks  of  Lee's  combined  and 
superior  forces.  Fiery  "Prince  John"  Magruder  hurled  column  after  column  against  the  left  of  the  Federal  line,  but  every  charge 
was  met  and  repulsed  through  the  long  hot  summer  afternoon.  Martindale's  brigade  of  the  Fifth  Corps  was  early  called  into  action, 
and  its  commander,  by  the  gallant  fighting  of  his  troops,  won  the  brevet  of  Major-General. 


THE  NAVY  LENDS  A  HAND 

Officers  of  the  Monitor  at  Malvern  Hill.  Glad  indeed  were  the  men  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  as  they  emerged  from  their  perilous 
march  across  White  Oak  Swamp  to  hear  the  firing  of  the  gunboats  on  the  James.  It  told  them  the  Confederates  had  not  yet  pre 
empted  the  occupation  of  Malvern  Hill,  which  General  Fitz  John  Porter's  Corps  was  holding.  Before  the  battle  opened  McClellan 
went  aboard  the  Galena  to  consult  with  Commodore  John  Rodgers  about  a  suitable  base  on  the  James.  The  gunboats  of  the  fleet 
supported  the  flanks  of  the  army  during  the  battle  and  are  said  to  have  silenced  one  of  the  Confederate  batteries. 


(Eapttal 


June 
1862 


*,-•   , 


fought  not  more  than  two  miles  away,  but  he  was  powerless 
to  give  aid. 

Longstreet  and  A.  P.  Hill  had  come  upon  the  Federal 
regiments  at  Glendale,  near  the  intersection  of  the  Charles 
City  road,  guarding  the  right  flank  of  the  retreat.  It  was 
Longstreet  who,  about  half-past  two,  made  one  of  his  charac 
teristic  onslaughts  on  that  part  of  the  Union  army  led  by  Gen 
eral  McCall.  It  was  repulsed  with  heavy  loss.  Again  and 
again  attacks  were  made.  Each  brigade  seemed  to  act  on  its 
own  behalf.  They  hammered  here,  there,  and  everywhere.  Re 
pulsed  at  one  place  they  charged  at  another.  The  Eleventh 
Alabama,  rushing  out  from  behind  a  dense  wood,  charged 
across  the  open  field  in  the  face  of  the  Union  batteries.  The 
men  had  to  run  a  distance  of  six  hundred  yards.  A  heavy  and 
destructive  fire  poured  into  their  lines,  but  on  they  came,  trail 
ing  their  guns.  The  batteries  let  loose  grape  and  canister, 
while  volley  after  volley  of  musketry  sent  its  death-dealing 
messages  among  the  Southerners.  But  nothing  except  death 
itself  could  check  their  impetuous  charge.  When  two  hundred 
yards  away  they  raised  the  Confederate  yell  and  rushed  for 
Randol's  battery. 

Pausing  for  an  instant  they  deliver  a  volley  and  attempt 
to  seize  the  guns.  Bayonets  are  crossed  and  men  engage 
in  a  hand-to-hand  struggle.  The  contending  masses  rush  to 
gether,  asking  and  giving  no  quarter  and  struggling  like  so 
many  tigers.  Darkness  is  closing  on  the  fearful  scene,  yet  the 
fighting  continues  with  unabated  ferocity.  There  are  the 
shouts  of  command,  the  clash  and  the  fury  of  the  battle,  the 
sulphurous  smoke,  the  flashes  of  fire  streaking  through  the  air, 
the  yells  of  defiance,  the  thrust,  the  parry,  the  thud  of  the 
clubbed  musket,  the  hiss  of  the  bullet,  the  spouting  blood,  the 
death-cry,  and  beneath  all  lie  the  bodies  of  America's  sons, 
some  in  blue  and  some  in  gray. 

While  Lee  and  his  army  were  held  in  check  by  the  events 
of  June  30th  at  White  Oak  Swamp  and  the  other  battle  at 


m 


Again  we  see  the  transports 
and  supply  schooners  at  an 
chor — this  time  at  Harrison's 
Landing  on  the  James  River. 
In  about  a  month,  McClellan 
had  changed  the  position  of 
his  army  twice,  shifting  his 
base  from  the  Pamunkey  to 
the  James.  The  position  he 
held  on  Malvern  Hill  was 
abandoned  after  the  victory 
of  July  1,  1862,  and  the 
army  marched  to  a  new  base 
farther  down  the  James, 
where  the  heavy  losses  of 
men  and  supplies  during  the 


THE  SECOND   ARMY  BASE 


Seven  Days  could  be  made 
up  without  danger  and 
delay.  Harrison's  Landing 
was  the  point  selected,  and 
here  the  army  recuperated, 
wondering  what  would  be  the 
next  step.  Below  we  see  the 
historic  mansion  which  did 
service  as  General  Porter's 
headquarters,  one  of  McClel- 
lan's  most  efficient  command 
ers.  For  his  services  during 
the  Seven  Days  he  was  made 
Major-General  of  Volunteers. 
McClellan  was  his  lifelong 
friend. 


WESTOVER  HOUSE:   HEADQUARTERS  OP  GENERAL  FITZ  JOHN  PORTER,  HARRISON'S  LANDING 


Hays — SHj?  Ofonfrtorafr  (ttaptial 


Glendale  or  Nelson's  Farm,  the  last  of  the  wagon  trains  had 
arrived  safely  at  Malvern  Hill.  The  contest  had  hardly  closed 
and  the  smoke  had  scarcely  lifted  from  the  blood-soaked  field, 
when  the  Union  forces  were  again  in  motion  toward  the  James. 
By  noon  on  July  1st  the  last  division  reached  the  position 
where  McClellan  decided  to  turn  again  upon  his  assailants. 
He  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  the  Confederate  columns,  led  by 
Longstreet,  were  close  on  his  trail,  and  a  march  of  a  few  miles 
brought  them  to  the  Union  outposts.  They  found  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  admirably  situated  to  give  defensive  battle. 
Malvern  Hill,  a  plateau,  a  mile  and  a  half  long  and  half  as 
broad,  with  its  top  almost  bare  of  woods,  commanded  a  view  of 
the  country  over  which  the  Confederate  army  must  approach. 
Along  the  western  face  of  this  plateau  there  are  deep  ravines 
falling  abruptly  in  the  direction  of  the  James  River;  on  the 
north  and  east  is  a  gentle  slope  to  the  plain  beneath,  bordered 
by  a  thick  forest.  Around  the  summit  of  the  hill,  General  Mc 
Clellan  had  placed  tier  after  tier  of  batteries,  arranged  like  an 
amphitheater.  Surmounting  these  on  the  crest  were  massed 
seven  of  his  heaviest  siege-guns.  His  army  surrounded  this 
hill,  its  left  flank  being  protected  by  the  gunboats  on  the  river. 

The  morning  and  early  afternoon  were  occupied  with 
many  Confederate  attacks,  sometimes  formidable  in  their  na 
ture,  but  Lee  planned  for  no  general  move  until  he  could 
bring  up  a  force  that  he  considered  sufficient  to  attack  the 
strong  Federal  position.  The  Confederate  orders  were  to 
advance  when  the  signal,  a  yell,  cheer,  or  shout  from  the  men 
of  Armistead's  brigade,  was  given. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  General  D.  H.  Hill  heard  some 
shouting,  followed  by  a  roar  of  musketry.  No  other  general 
seems  to  have  heard  it,  for  Hill  made  his  attack  alone.  It  was 
gallantly  done,  but  no  army  could  have  withstood  the  galling 
fire  of  the  batteries  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  as  they  were 
massed  upon  Malvern  Hill.  All  during  the  evening,  brigade 
after  brigade  tried  to  force  the  Union  lines.  The  gunners 


COPVR  GMT  BY    PATRIOT  PUB.   CO 


ON   DARING    DUTY 


Lieut.-Colonel  Albert  V.  Colburn,  a  favorite  Aide-de-Camp  of  General  McClellan's. — Here  is  the  bold 
soldier  of  the  Green  Mountain  State  who  bore  despatches  about  the  fields  of  battle  during  the  Seven  Days. 
It  was  he  who  was  sent  galloping  across  the  difficult  and  dangerous  country  to  make  sure  that  Franklin's 
division  was  retreating  from  White  Oak  Swamp,  and  then  to  carry  orders  to  Sumner  to  fall  back  on  Mal- 
vern  Hill.  Such  were  the  tasks  that  constantly  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  despatch  bearer.  Necessarily  a  man 
of  quick  and  accurate  judgment,  perilous  chances  confronted  him  in  his  efforts  to  keep  the  movements  of 
widely  separated  divisions  in  concert  with  the  plans  of  the  commander.  The  loss  of  his  life  might  mean 
the  loss  of  a  battle;  the  failure  to  arrive  in  the  nick  of  time  with  despatches  might  mean  disaster  for  the 
army.  Only  the  coolest  headed  of  the  officers  could  be  trusted  with  this  vital  work  in  the  field. 


lays — ®lf£  (Ermfrtorat?  (Eapttal 


June 
1862 


stood  coolly  and  manfully  by  their  batteries.  The  Confeder 
ates  were  not  able  to  make  concerted  efforts,  but  the  battle 
waxed  hot  nevertheless.  They  were  forced  to  breast  one  of 
the  most  devastating  storms  of  lead  and  canister  to  which  an 
assaulting  army  has  ever  been  subjected.  The  round  shot  and 
grape  cut  through  the  branches  of  the  trees  and  the  battle-field 
was  soon  in  a  cloud  of  smoke.  Column  after  column  of  South 
ern  soldiers  rushed  up  to  the  death-dealing  cannon,  only  to  be 
mowed  down.  The  thinned  and  ragged  lines,  with  a  valor  born 
of  desperation,  rallied  again  and  again  to  the  charge,  but  to 
no  avail.  The  batteries  on  the  heights  still  hurled  their  missiles 
of  death.  The  field  below  was  covered  with  the  dead  and 
wounded  of  the  Southland. 

The  gunboats  in  the  river  made  the  battle  scene  more  awe- 
inspiring  with  their  thunderous  cannonading.  Their  heavy 
shells  shrieked  through  the  forest,  and  great  limbs  were  torn 
from  the  trees  as  they  hurtled  by  in  their  outburst  of  fury. 

Night  was  falling.  The  combatants  were  no  longer  dis 
tinguishable  except  by  the  sheets  of  flame.  It  was  nine  o'clock 
before  the  guns  ceased  their  fire,  and  only  an  occasional  shot 
rang  out  over  the  bloody  field  of  Malvern  Hill. 

The  courageous  though  defeated  Confederate,  looking  up 
the  next  day  through  the  drenching  rain  to  where  had  stood 
the  embrasured  wall  with  its  grim  batteries  and  lines  of  blue, 
that  spoke  death  to  so  many  of  his  companions-in-arms,  saw 
only  deserted  ramparts.  The  Union  army  had  retreated  in 
the  darkness  of  the  night.  But  this  time  no  foe  harassed 
its  march.  Unmolested,  it  sought  its  new  camp  at  Harrison's 
Landing,  where  it  remained  until  August  3d,  when,  as  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  had  been  convinced  of  the  impracticability  of 
operating  from  the  James  River  as  a  base,  orders  were  issued 
by  General  Halleck  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  from  the  Peninsula. 

The  net  military  result  of  the  Seven  Days  was  a  disap 
pointment  to  the  South.  Although  thankful  that  the  siege  of 


/^tesis 


Copyriyht  uy  Patriot  fub.  Co. 


AVERELL— THE  COLONEL  WHO  BLUFFED  AN  ARMY. 

Colonel  W.  W.  Averell  and  Staff. — This  intrepid  officer  of  the  Third  Pennsylvania  Cavalry  held  the  Federal 
position  on  Malvern  Hill  on  the  morning  of  July  2,  1862,  with  only  a  small  guard,  while  McClellan  com 
pleted  the  withdrawal  of  his  army  to  Harrison's  Landing.  It  was  his  duty  to  watch  the  movements  of 
the  Confederates  and  hold  them  back  from  any  attempt  to  fall  upon  the  retreating  trains  and  troops.  A 
dense  fog  in  the  early  morning  shut  off  the  forces  of  A.  P.  Hill  and  Longstreet  from  his  view.  He  had  not 
a  single  fieldpiece  with  which  to  resist  attack.  When  the  mist  cleared  away,  he  kept  up  a  great  activity 
with  his  cavalry  horses,  making  the  Confederates  believe  that  artillery  was  being  brought  up.  With  ap 
parent  reluctance  he  agreed  to  a  truce  of  two  hours  in  which  the  Confederates  might  bury  the  dead  they 
left  on  the  hillside  the  day  before.  Later,  with  an  increased  show  of  unwillingness,  he  extended  the  truce 
for  another  two  hours.  Just  before  they  expired,  Frank's  Battery  arrived  to  his  support,  with  the  news 

that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  safe.     Colonel  Averell  rejoined  it  without  the  loss  of  a  man. 
[A— 22] 


Qhwfrforat?  QIapttal 


Richmond  had  been  raised,  the  Southern  public  believed  that 
McClellan  should  not  have  been  allowed  to  reach  the  James 
River  with  his  army  intact. 

'  That  army,"  Eggleston  states,  "  splendidly  organized, 
superbly  equipped,  and  strengthened  rather  than  weakened 
in  morale,  lay  securely  at  rest  on  the  James  River,  within  easy 
striking  distance  of  Richmond.  There  was  no  knowing  at 
what  moment  McClellan  might  hurl  it  again  upon  Richmond 
or  upon  that  commanding  key  to  Richmond — the  Petersburg 
position.  In  the  hands  of  a  capable  commander  McClellan's 
army  would  at  this  time  have  been  a  more  serious  menace  than 
ever  to  the  Confederate  capital,  for  it  now  had  an  absolutely 
secure  and  unassailable  base  of  operations,  while  its  fighting 
quality  had  been  improved  rather  than  impaired  by  its  seven 
days  of  battling." 

General  Lee's  own  official  comment  on  the  military  prob 
lem  involved  and  the  difficulties  encountered  was :  "  Under 
ordinary  circumstances  the  Federal  army  should  have  been 
destroyed.  Its  escape  was  due  to  the  causes  already  stated. 
Prominent  among  these  is  the  want  of  correct  and  timely  in 
formation.  This  fact,  attributable  chiefly  to  the  character  of 
the  country,  enabled  General  McClellan  skilfully  to  conceal  his 
retreat  and  to  add  much  to  the  obstructions  with  which  nature 
had  beset  the  way  of  our  pursuing  columns;  but  regret  that 
more  was  not  accomplished  gives  way  to  gratitude  to  the  Sov 
ereign  Ruler  of  the  Universe  for  the  results  achieved." 

Whatever  the  outcome  of  the  Seven  Days'  Battle  another 
year  was  to  demonstrate  beyond  question  that  the  wounding 
of  General  Johnston  at  Fair  Oaks  had  left  the  Confederate 
army  with  an  even  abler  commander.  On  such  a  field  as  Chan- 
cellorsville  was  to  be  shown  the  brilliancy  of  Lee  as  leader,  and 
his  skilful  maneuvers  leading  to  the  invasion  of  the  North. 
And  the  succeeding  volume  will  tell,  on  the  other  hand,  how 
strong  and  compact  a  fighting  force  had  been  forged  from  the 
raw  militia  and  volunteers  of  the  North. 


OFFICERS   OF   THE    THIRD    PENNSYLVANIA    CAVALRY 

AFTER  THE  SEVEN  DAYS 

Within  a  week  of  the  occupation  of  Harrison's  Landing,  McClellan's  position  had  become  so  strong  that  the  Federal  commander  no 
longer  anticipated  an  attack  by  the  Confederate  forces.  General  Lee  saw  that  his  opponent  was  flanked  on  each  side  by  a  creek  and 
that  approach  to  his  front  was  commanded  by  the  guns  in  the  entrenchments  and  those  of  the  Federal  navy  in  the  river.  Lee  there 
fore  deemed  it  inexpedient  to  attack,  especially  as  his  troops  were  in  poor  condition  owing  to  the  incessant  marching  and  righting  of  the 
Seven  Days.  Rest  was  what  both  armies  needed  most,  and  on  July  8th  the  Confederate  forces  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  Richmond. 
McClellan  scoured  the  country  before  he  was  satisfied  of  the  Confederate  withdrawal.  The  Third  and  Fourth  Pennsylvania  cavalry 
made  a  reconnaisance  to  Charles  City  Court  House  and  beyond,  and  General  Averell  reported  on  July  llth  that  there  were  no  Southern 
troops  south  of  the  lower  Chickahominy.  His  scouting  expeditions  extended  in  the  direction  of  Richmond  and  up  the  Chickahominy. 


CHARLES  CITY  COURT  HOUSE,   VIRGINIA,  JULY,   1862 


Copyright  by  Patriot  Pub.  Co. 


THE 

FEDERAL 
DEFENDER 

OF 
CORINTH 


\ 


THE  MAN 
WHO  KEPT 

THE 

KEY  IN  THE 
WEST 


GENERAL  W.  S.  ROSECRANS 

The  possession  of  Corinth,  Miss.,  meant  the  control  of  the  railroads  without  which  the  Federal  armies  could 
not  push  down  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  eastward  into  Tennessee.  Autumn  found  Rosecrans  with  about 
23,000  men  in  command  at  the  post  where  were  vast  quantities  of  military  stores.  On  October  3,  the  indomi 
table  Confederate  leaders,  Price  and  Van  Dorn,  appeared  before  Corinth,  and  Rosecrans  believing  the  movement 
to  be  a  feint  sent  forward  a  brigade  to  an  advanced  position  on  a  hill.  A  sharp  battle  ensued  and  in  a  brilliant 
charge  the  Confederates  at  last  possessed  the  hill.  Convinced  that  there  was  really  to  be  a  determined  assault  on 
Corinth,  Rosecrans  disposed  his  forces  during  the  night.  Just  before  dawn  the  Confederate  cannonade  began,  the 
early  daylight  was  passed  in  skirmishing,  while  the  artillery  duel  grew  hotter.  Then  a  glittering  column  of  Price's 
men  burst  from  the  woods.  Grape  and  canister  were  poured  into  them,  but  on  they  came,  broke  through  the 
Federal  center  and  drove  back  their  opponents  to  the  square  of  the  town.  Here  the  Confederates  were  at  last 
swept  back.  But  ere  that  Van  Dorn's  troops  had  hurled  themselves  on  Battery  Robinett  to  the  left  of  the  Federal 
line,  and  fought  their  way  over  the  parapet  and  into  the  battery.  Their  victory  was  brief.  Federal  troops  well 
placed  in  concealment  rose  up  and  poured  volley  after  volley  into  them.  They  were  swept  away  and  Corinth  was 
safe.  Rosecrans  by  a  well-planned  defense  had  kept  the  key  to  Grant's  subsequent  control  of  the  West. 


GENERAL  EARL  VAN  DORN.  C.S.A. 


THE    CONFEDERATE    COMMANDER 
AT   CORINTH 

General  Earl  Van  Dorn  was  born  in  Mis 
sissippi  in  1821;  he  was  graduated  from  West 
Point  in  1842,  and  was  killed  in  a  personal 
quarrel  in  18G3.  Early  in  the  war  General  Van 
Dorn  had  distinguished  himself  by  capturing 
the  steamer  "  Star  of  the  West "  at  Indianola, 
Texas.  He  was  of  a  tempestuous  nature  and 
had  natural  fighting  qualities.  During  the 
month  of  August  he  commanded  all  the  Con 
federate  troops  in  Mississippi  except  those 
under  General  Price,  and  it  was  his  idea  to  form 
a  combined  movement  with  the  latter's  forces 
and  expel  the  invading  Federals  from  the 
northern  portion  of  his  native  State  and  from 
eastern  Tennessee.  The  concentration  was 
made  and  the  Confederate  army,  about  22,000 
men,  was  brought  into  the  disastrous  battle  of 
Corinth.  Brave  were  the  charges  made  on  the 
entrenched  positions,  but  without  avail. 


THE      CONFEDERATE      SECOND      IN 
COMMAND 

General  Sterling  Price  was  a  civilian  who  by 
natural  inclination  turned  to  soldiering.  He 
had  been  made  a  brigadier-general  during  the 
Mexican  War,  but  early  allied  himself  with  the 
cause  of  the  Confederacy.  At  Pea  Ridge,  only 
seven  months  before  the  battle  of  Corinth,  he 
had  been  wounded.  Of  the  behavior  of  his 
men,  though  they  were  defeated  and  turned 
back  on  the  4th,  he  wrote  that  it  was  with 
pride  that  sisters  and  daughters  of  the  South 
could  say  of  the  officers  and  men,  "  My  brother, 
father,  fought  at  Corinth."  And  nobly  they 
fought  indeed.  General  Van  Dorn,  in  referring 
to  the  end  of  that  bloody  battle,  wrote  these 
pathetic  words:  "Exhausted  from  loss  of  sleep, 
wearied  from  hard  marching  and  fighting,  com 
panies  and  regiments  without  officers,  our 
troops — let  no  one  censure  them — gave  way. 
The  day  was  lost." 


GENERAL  STERLING  PRICE,  C.S.A. 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


BEFORE  THE  SOD  HID  THEM 


The  Gathered  Confederate  Dead  Before  Battery  Robinett— taken  the  morning  after  their  desperate  attempt  to  carry  the  works 
by  assault.  No  man  can  look  at  this  awful  picture  and  wish  to  go  to  war.  These  men,  a  few  hours  before,  were  full  of  life  and  hope 
and  courage.  Without  the  two  last  qualities  they  would  not  be  lying  as  they  are  pictured  here.  In  the  very  foreground,  on  the 
left,  lies  their  leader,  Colonel  Rogers,  and  almost  resting  on  his  shoulder  is  the  body  of  the  gallant  Colonel  Ross.  We  are  looking 
from  the  bottom  of  the  parapet  of  Battery  Robinett.  Let  an  eye-witness  tell  of  what  the  men  saw  who  looked  toward  the  houses 
on  that  bright  October  day,  and  then  glanced  along  their  musket-barrels  and  pulled  the  triggers:  "Suddenly  we  saw  a  magnificent 
brigade  emerge  in  our  front;  they  came  forward  in  perfect  order,  a  grand  but  terrible  sight.  At  their  head  rode  the  commander,  a 
man  of  fine  physique,  in  the  prime  of  life — quiet  and  cool  as  though  on  a  drill.  The  artillery  opened,  the  infantry  followed; 
notwithstanding  the  slaughter  they  were  closer  and  closer.  Their  commander  [Colonel,Rogers]  seemed  to  bear  a  charmed  life. 
He  jumped  his  horse  across  the  ditch  in  front  of  the  guns,  and  then  on  foot  came  on.  When  he  fell,  the  battle  in  our  front 
was  over." 


Painted  by  E.  Packbauer. 


THE     BATTLE    OF     NEW     ORLEANS. 


Copyright,  1901.  by  Perrirn-Kevdel  Co., 
Detroit,  Mich..  U.  S.  A  . 


GENERAL    JOHN    POPE 

THE  UNFORTUNATE   COMMANDER  OF  THE   ARMY   OF  VIRGINIA 
A   SWIFT  TURN   OF  FORTUNE'S   WHEEL 

Perhaps  there  is  no  more  pathetic  figure  in  the  annals  of  the  War  than  Pope.  In  the  West,  that  fiery  furnace  where  the  North's  greatest 
generals  were  already  being  molded,  he  stood  out  most  prominently  in  the  Spring  of  18C2.  At  Washington,  the  administration  was 
cudgeling  its  brains  for  means  to  meet  the  popular  clamor  for  an  aggressive  campaign  against  Lee  after  the  Peninsula  fiasco.  Pope  was 
sent  for  and  arrived  in  Washington  in  June.  When  the  plan  to  place  him  at  the  head  of  an  army  whose  three  corps  commanders  all  out 
ranked  him,  was  proposed,  he  begged  to  be  sent  back  West.  But  he  was  finally  persuaded  to  undertake  a  task,  the  magnitude  of 
which  was  not  yet  appreciated  at  the  North.  During  a  month  of  preparation  he  was  too  easily  swayed  by  the  advice  and  influenced 
by  the  plans  of  civilians,  and  finally  issued  a  flamboyant  address  to  his  army  ending  with  the  statement,  "My  headquarters  will  be  in 
the  saddle."  When  this  was  shown  to  Lee,  he  grimly  commented,  "Perhaps  his  headquarters  will  be  where  his  hindquarters  ought  to 
be."  There  followed  the  brief  campaign,  the  stunning  collision  with  the  solid  front  of  StonewallJackson  at  Cedar  Mountain,  and  the 
clever  strategy  that  took  Pope  at  a  disadvantage  on  the  old  battlefield  of  Bull  Run.  Thence  his  army  retreated  more  badly  beaten 
from  a  military  standpoint  than  the  rout  which  fled  the  same  field  a  year  before.  A  brief  summer  had  marked  the  rise  and  fall  of  Pope. 
Two  years  later  Sherman  bade  good-bye  to  his  friend  Grant  also  summoned  from  the  West.  "Remember  Pope,"  was  the  gist  of  his 
warning;  "don't  stay  in  Washington;  keep  in  the  field." 


CEDAR  MOUNTAIN 

The  Army  of  Virginia,  under  Pope,  is  now  to  bear  the  brunt  of  Lee's 
assault,  while  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  is  dismembered  and  sent  back 
whence  it  came,  to  add  in  driblets  to  Pope's  effective. — Colonel  Theodore 
A.  Dodge,  U.S.A.,  in  "A  BinTs-Eye  View  of  the  Civil  War" 

GENERAL  GEORGE  B.  McCLELLAN,  with  all 
his  popularity  at  the  beginning,  had  failed  in  his 
Peninsula  campaign  to  fulfil  the  expectations  of  the  great 
impatient  public  of  the  North.  At  the  same  time,  while 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  as  yet  won  no  great  victories, 
the  men  of  the  West  could  triumphantly  exhibit  the  trophies 
won  at  Donelson,  at  Pea  Ridge,  at  Shiloh,  and  at  Island 
No.  10.  The  North  thereupon  came  to  believe  that  the 
Western  leaders  were  more  able  than  those  of  the  East. 
This  belief  was  shared  by  the  President  and  his  Secretary 
of  War  and  it  led  to  the  determination  to  call  on  the  West 
for  help. 

The  first  to  be  called  was  General  John  Pope,  who  had 
won  national  fame  by  capturing  New  Madrid  and  Island  No. 
10  on  the  Mississippi  River.  In  answer  to  a  telegram  from 
Secretary  Stanton,  Pope  came  to  Washington  in  June,  1862. 
The  secretary  disclosed  the  plans  on  which  he  and  President 
Lincoln  had  agreed,  that  a  new  army,  to  be  known  as  the 
Army  of  Virginia,  was  to  be  created  out  of  three  corps,  then 
under  the  respective  commands  of  Generals  McDowell,  N.  P. 
Banks,  and  John  C.  Fremont.  These  corps  had  been  held 
from  the  Peninsula  campaign  for  the  purpose  of  protecting 
Washington. 

Pope  demurred  and  begged  to  be  sent  back  to  the  West, 
on  the  ground  that  each  of  the  three  corps  commanders  was 
his  senior  in  rank  and  that  his  being  placed  at  their  head  -would 


J 


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A  BREATHING  SPELL 

Federal  Encampment  at  Blackburn's  Ford  on  Bull  Run,  July  4,  1862.  When  McClellan  went  to  the  Peninsula  in  March  of  1862  he 
had  expected  all  of  McDowell's  Corps  to  be  sent  him  as  reenforcement  before  he  made  the  final  advance  on  Richmond.  But  the 
brilliant  exploits  of  Jackson  in  the  Shenandoah  required  the  retention  of  all  the  troops  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington.  A  new  army, 
in  fact,  was  created  to  make  the  campaign  which  Lincoln  had  originally  wanted  McClellan  to  carry  out.  The  command  was  given 
to  General  John  Pope,  whose  capture  of  Island  No.  10  in  the  Mississippi  had  brought  him  into  national  importance.  The  corps  of 
Banks,  Fremont,  and  McDowell  were  consolidated  to  form  this  new  army,  called  the  "Army  of  Virginia."  General  Fremont  refused 
to  serve  under  his  junior,  and  his  force  was  given  to  Franz  Sigel,  who  had  won  fame  in  1861  in  Missouri.  This  picture  was  taken 
about  two  weeks  after  the  reorganization  was  completed.  The  soldiers  are  those  of  McDowell's  Corps.  They  are  on  the  old  battle 
field  of  Bull  Run,  enjoying  the  leisure  of  camp  life,  for  no  definite  plans  for  the  campaign  have  yet  been  formed. 


WHERE  JACKSON  STRUCK 

Cedar  Mountain,  Viewed  from  Pope's  Headquarters.  On  the  side  of  this  mountain  Jackson  established  the  right  of  his  battle 
line,  when  he  discovered  at  noon  of  August  9th  that  he  was  in  contact  with  a  large  part  of  Pope's  army.  He  had  started  from 
Gordonsville,  Pope's  objective,  to  seize  Culpeper  Court  House,  but  the  combat  took  place  in  the  valley  here  pictured,  some  five 
miles  southwest  of  Culpeper,  and  by  nightfall  the  fields  and  slopes  were  strewn  with  more  than  three  thousand  dead  and  wounded. 


ta 


August 

1862 


doubtless  create  a  feeling  against  him.  But  his  protests  were 
of  no  avail  and  he  assumed  command  of  the  Army  of  Virginia 
on  the  26th  of  June.  McDowell  and  Banks  made  no  protest; 
but  Fremont  refused  to  serve  under  one  whom  he  considered 
his  junior,  and  resigned  his  position.  His  corps  was  assigned 
to  General  Franz  Sigel. 

The  new  commander,  General  Pope,  on  the  14th  of  July, 
issued  an  address  to  his  army  that  was  hardly  in  keeping  with 
his  modesty  in  desiring  at  first  to  decline  the  honor  that  was 
offered  him.  "  I  have  come  to  you  from  the  West,"  he  pro 
claimed,  "  where  we  have  always  seen  the  backs  of  our  enemies 
—from  an  army  wrhose  business  it  has  been  to  seek  the  adver 
sary  and  to  beat  him  when  found.  .  .  .  Meantime  I  desire  you 
to  dismiss  from  your  minds  certain  phrases  which  I  am  sorry 
to  find  much  in  vogue  among  you.  I  hear  constantly  of  ... 
lines  of  retreat  and  bases  of  supplies.  Let  us  discard  such 
ideas.  .  .  .  Let  us  look  before  us  and  not  behind." 

The  immediate  object  of  General  Pope  was  to  make  the 
capital  secure,  to  make  advances  toward  Richmond,  and,  if  pos 
sible,  to  draw  a  portion  of  Lee's  army  away  from  McClellan. 
His  first  objective  was  Gordonsville.  From  this  town,  not 
far  from  the  base  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  there  was  a 
railroad  connecting  it  with  Richmond — a  convenient  means  of 
furnishing  men  and  supplies  to  the  Confederate  army.  Pope 
decided  to  occupy  the  town  and  destroy  the  railroad.  To  this 
end  he  ordered  Banks  to  Culpeper  and  thence  to  send  all  his 
cavalry  to  Gordonsville,  capture  the  town  and  tear  up  ten  or 
fifteen  miles  of  the  railroad  in  the  direction  of  Richmond. 
But,  as  if  a  prelude  to  the  series  of  defeats  which  General  Pope 
was  to  suffer  in  the  next  six  weeks,  he  failed  in  this  initial 
movement.  The  sagacious  Lee  had  divined  his  intention  and 
had  sent  General  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson  with  his  and  General 
Swell's  divisions  on  July  13th,  to  occupy  Gordonsville.  Ewell 
arrived  in  advance  of  Jackson  and  held  the  town  for  the 
Confederates. 


IX  THE  LINE  OF  FIRE 

Where  the  Confederate  General  Winder  was  killed  at  Cedar  Mountain.  It  was  while  directing  the  movements  of  four  advance 
batteries  that  General  Winder  was  struck  by  a  shell,  expiring  in  a  few  hours.  Jackson  reported:  "It  is  difficult  within  the  proper 
reserve  of  an  official  report  to  do  justice  to  the  merits  of  this  accomplished  officer.  Urged  by  the  medical  director  to  take  no  part  in  the 
movements  of  the  day  because  of  the  enfeebled  state  of  his  health,  his  ardent  patriotism  and  military  pride  could  bear  no  such  restraint. 
Richly  endowed  with  those  qualities  of  mind  and  person  which  fit  an  officer  for  command  and  which  attract  the  admiration  and  excite 
the  enthusiasm  of  troops,  he  was  rapidly  rising  to  the  front  rank  of  his  profession." 


August 
1862 


x\/ 


In  the  campaign  we  are  describing  Jackson  was  the  most 
active  and  conspicuous  figure  on  the  Confederate  side.  He 
rested  at  Gordonsville  for  two  weeks,  recuperating  his  health 
and  that  of  the  army,  which  had  been  much  impaired  in  the 
malarial  district  of  the  Peninsula.  The  fresh  mountain  air 
blowing  down  from  the  Blue  Ridge  soon  brought  back  their 
wonted  vigor.  On  July  27th  A.  P.  Hill  was  ordered  to  join 
him,  and  the  Confederate  leader  now  had  about  twenty-five 
thousand  men. 

The  movement  on  Gordonsville  was  exactly  in  accordance 
with  Jackson's  own  ideas  which  he  had  urged  upon  Lee.  Al 
though  believing  McClellan  to  be  in  an  impregnable  position 
on  the  Peninsula,  it  was  not  less  evident  to  him  that  the  Union 
general  would  be  unable  to  move  further  until  his  army  had 
been  reorganized  and  reenforced.  This  was  the  moment,  he 
argued,  to  strike  in  another  direction  and  carry  the  conflict  into 
the  Federal  territory.  An  army  of  at  least  sixty  thousand 
should  march  into  Maryland  and  appear  before  the  National 
Capital.  President  Davis  could  not  be  won  over  to  the  plan 
while  McClellan  was  still  in  a  position  to  be  reenforced  by  sea, 
but  Lee,  seeing  that  McClellan  remained  inactive,  had  deter 
mined,  by  sending  Jackson  westward,  to  repeat  the  successful 
tactics  of  the  previous  spring  in  the  Shenandoah  valley.  Such 
a  move  might  result  in  the  recall  of  McClellan. 

And  so  it  happened.  No  sooner  had  Halleck  assumed 
command  of  all  the  Northern  armies  than  the  matter  of  Mc- 
Clellan's  withdrawal  was  agitated  and  on  August  3d  the  head 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  to  his  bitter  disappointment,  was 
ordered  to  join  Pope  on  the  Rappahannock.  Halleck  was 
much  concerned  as  to  how  Lee  would  act  during  the  Federal 
evacuation  of  the  Peninsula,  uncertain  whether  the  Confed 
erates  would  attempt  to  crush  Pope  before  McClellan  could 
reenforce  him,  or  whether  McClellan  would  be  attacked  as  soon 
as  he  was  out  of  his  strong  entrenchments  at  Harrison's 
Landing. 


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COPYRIGHT   BY   PATRIOT   PUB.   CO. 


THE  LEADER  OF  THE  CHARGE 


The  Hero  of  the  Federal  Attack.  General  Samuel  W. 
Crawford,  here  seen  with  his  staff,  at  Cedar  Mountain  led 
a  charge  on  the  left  flank  of  the  Confederate  forces  that 
came  near  being  disastrous  for  Jackson. 
At  about  six  o'clock  the  brigade  was  in  line. 
General  Williams  reported:  "At  this  time 
this  brigade  occupied  the  interior  line  of  a 
strip  of  woods.  A  field,  varying  from  250  to 
500  yards  in  width,  lay  between  it  and  the 
next  strip  of  woods.  In  moving  across  this 
field  the  three  right  regiments  and  the  six 
companies  of  the  Third  Wisconsin  were  re 
ceived  by  a  terrific  fire  of  musketry.  The 
Third  Wisconsin  especially  fell  under  a  par 
tial  flank  fire  under  which  Lieut.-Colonel 
Crane  fell  and  the  regiment  was  obliged  to 
give  way.  Of  the  three  remaining  regiments 
which  continued  the  charge  (Twenty-eighth 
New  York,  Forty-sixth  Pennsylvania,  and 
Fifth  Connecticut)  every  field-officer  and 
every  adjutant  was  killed  or  disabled.  In 
the  Twenty-eighth  New  York  every  com 
pany  officer  was  killed  or  wounded;  in  the 
Forty-sixth  Pennsylvania  all  but  five;  in  the 
Fifth  Connecticut  all  but  eight."  It  was 
one  of  the  most  heroic  combats  of  the  war. 


A  Leader  of  Cavalry.  Colonel  Alfred  N.  Duffie  was  in  command 
of  the  First  Rhode  Island  Cavalry,  in  the  Cavalry  Brigade  of 
the  Second  Division  of  McDowell's  (Third)  Corps  in  Pope's 
Army  of  Virginia.  The  cavalry  had  been 
used  pretty  well  during  Pope's  advance.  On 
the  8th  of  August,  the  day  before  the  battle 
of  Cedar  Mountain,  the  cavalry  had  pro 
ceeded  south  to  the  house  of  Dr.  Slaughter. 
That  night  Duffie  was  on  picket  in 
advance  of  General  Crawford's  troops, 
which  had  come  up  during  the  day  and 
pitched  camp.  The  whole  division  came 
to  his  support  on  the  next  day.  When  the 
infantry  fell  back  to  the  protection  of  the 
batteries,  the  cavalry  was  ordered  to  charge 
the  advancing  Confederates.  "  Officers  and 
men  behaved  admirably,  and  I  cannot  speak 
too  highly  of  the  good  conduct  of  all  of 
the  brigade,"  reported  General  Bayard. 
After  the  battle  the  cavalry  covered  the 
retreat  of  the  artillery  and  ambulances.  On 
August  18th,  when  the  retreat  behind  the 
Rappahannoc  was  ordered,  the  cavalry 
again  checked  the  Confederate  advance. 
During  the  entire  campaign  the  regiment  of 
Colonel  Duffie  did  yeoman's  service. 


COL.   ALFRED   N.  DUFFIE 


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The  latter  of  the  two  possibilities  seemed  the  more  prob 
able,  and  Pope  was  therefore  ordered  to  push  his  whole  army 
toward  Gordonsville,  in  the  hope  that  Lee,  compelled  to 
strengthen  Jackson,  would  be  too  weak  to  fall  upon  the  retir 
ing  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

The  Union  army  now  occupied  the  great  triangle  formed 
roughly  by  the  Rappahannock  and  the  Rapidan  rivers  and 
the  range  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  with  Culpeper  Court 
House  as  the  rallying  point.  Pope  soon  found  that  the  captur 
ing  of  New  Madrid  and  Island  No.  10  was  easy  in  comparison 
with  measuring  swords  with  the  Confederate  generals  in  the 
East. 

On  August  6th  Pope  began  his  general  advance  upon 
Gordonsville.  Banks  already  had  a  brigade  at  Culpeper  Court 
House,  and  this  was  nearest  to  Jackson.  The  small  settle 
ment  was  the  meeting  place  of  four  roads  by  means  of  which 
Pope's  army  of  forty-seven  thousand  men  would  be  united. 
Jackson,  informed  of  the  advance,  immediately  set  his  three 
divisions  in  motion  for  Culpeper,  hoping  to  crush  Banks,  hold 
the  town,  and  prevent  the  uniting  of  the  Army  of  Virginia. 
His  progress  was  slow.  The  remainder  of  Banks's  corps 
reached  Culpeper  on  the  8th.  On  the  morning  of  the  9th  Jack 
son  finally  got  his  troops  over  the  Rapidan  and  the  Robertson 
rivers.  Two  miles  beyond  the  latter  stream  there  rose  from  the 
plain  the  slope  of  Slaughter  Mountain,  whose  ominous  name  is 
more  often  changed  into  Cedar.  This  "  mountain "  is  an 
isolated  foothill  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  some  twenty  miles  from 
the  parent  range,  and  a  little  north  of  the  Rapidan.  From  its 
summit  could  be  seen  vast  stretches  of  quiet  farmlands  which 
had  borne  their  annual  harvests  since  the  days  of  the  Cavaliers. 
Its  gentle  slopes  were  covered  with  forests,  which  merged  at 
length  into  waving  grain  fields  and  pasture  lands,  dotted  here 
and  there  with  rural  homes.  It  was  here  on  the  slope  of  Cedar 
Mountain  that  one  of  the  most  severe  little  battles  of  the  war 
took  place. 


THE  FIRST  CLASH 


Battlefield  of  Cedar  Mountain,  August  9,  1862.  Here  the  Con 
federate  army  in  its  second  advance  on  Washington  first  felt  out 
the  strength  massed  against  it.  After  Lee's  brilliant  tactics  had 
turned  McCIellan's  Peninsula  Campaign  into  a  fiasco,  the  Con 
federate  Government  resolved  to  again  take  the  offensive. 
Plans  were  formed  for  a  general  invasion  of  the  North,  the 
objective  points  ranging  from  Cincinnati 
eastward  to  the  Federal  capital  and 
Philadelphia.  Immediately  after  Wash 
ington  got  wind  of  this,  Lincoln  (on  August 
4th)  issued  a  call  for  three  hundred  thou 
sand  men;  and  all  haste  was  made  to 
rush  the  forces  of  McClellan  from  the 
Peninsula  and  of  Cox  from  West  Virginia 
to  the  aid  of  the  recently  consolidated  army 
under  Pope.  On  August  9,  1862,  the  van 
guards  of  "  Stonewall "  Jackson's  army 
and  of  Pope's  intercepting  forces  met  at 
Cedar  Mountain.  Banks,  with  the  Second 
Corps  of  the  Federal  army,  about  eight 
thousand  strong,  attacked  Jackson's  forces 
of  some  sixteen  thousand.  The  charge 
was  so  furious  that  Jackson's  left  flank 

was  broken  and  rolled  up,  the  rear  of  the  center  fired  upon,  and 
the  whole  line  thereby  thrown  into  confusion.  Banks,  however, 
received  no  reenforcements,  while  Jackson  received  strong 
support.  The  Federal  troops  were  driven  back  across  the  ground 
which  they  had  swept  clear  earlier  in  the  afternoon. 


The  Battle  of   Cedar   Mountain,   August  9,   1862.     The  lower 
picture  was  taken  the  day  after  the  battle  that  had  raged  for  a 
brief  two  hours  on  the  previous  evening.     After  an  artillery  fire 
that  filled  half  the  afternoon,  the  advanced  Federal  cavalry  was 
pressed  back  on  the  infantry  supporting  the  batteries.    Banks 
underestimated    the    strength    of  the  Confederates.     Instead  of 
sending      to     Pope     for     reenforcements, 
he    ordered    a   charge   on   the   approach 
ing      troops.       The     Confederates,      still 
feeling   their   way,    were    unprepared    for 
this  movement  and  were  thrown  into  con 
fusion.     But   at   the    moment    when   the 
Federal  charge  was  about  to  end  in  success, 
three  brigades  of  A.  P.  Hill  in  reserve  were 
called   up.     They   forced  the  Federals  to 
retrace  their  steps  to  the  point  where  the 
fighting  began.     Here  the  Federal  retreat, 
in  turn,  was  halted  by  General  Pope  with 
reenforcements.    The  Confederates  moving 
up  their  batteries,  a  short-range  artillery 
fight,    was    kept  up     until    midnight.     At 
daylight   it    was    found   that    Ewell   and 
Jackson  had  fallen  back  two  miles  farther 

up  the  mountain.  Pope  advanced  to  the  former  Confederate 
ground  and  rested,  after  burying  the  dead.  The  following 
morning  the  Confederates  had  disappeared.  The  loss  to  both 
armies  was  almost  three  thousand  in  killed,  wounded  and 
missing.  The  battle  had  accomplished  nothing. 


cf» 

ar  JKfluntaw  —  |to{i 

tf'0  Afrmttr?  i 

i 
g  (titytfab  * 

August 
1862 

On  the  banks  of  Cedar  Run,  seven  miles  south  of  Cul- 
peper  and  but  one  or  two  north  of  the  mountain,  Banks's  cav 
alry  were  waiting  to  oppose  Jackson's  advance.  Learning  of 
this  the  latter  halted  and  waited  for  an  attack.  He  placed 
Swell's  batteries  on  the  slope  about  two  hundred  feet  above 
the  valley  and  sent  General  Winder  to  take  a  strong  position 
on  the  left.  So  admirably  was  Jackson's  army  stationed  that 
it  would  have  required  a  much  larger  force,  approaching  it 
from  the  plains,  to  dislodge  it.  And  yet,  General  Banks  made 
an  attempt  with  an  army  scarcely  one-third  as  large  as  that  of 
Jackson. 

General  Pope  had  made  glowing  promises  of  certain  suc 
cess  and  he  well  knew  that  the  whole  North  was  eagerly 
watching  and  waiting  for  him  to  fulfil  them.  He  must  strike 
somewhere  and  do  it  soon — and  here  was  his  chance  at  Cedar 
Mountain.  He  sent  Banks  with  nearly  eight  thousand  men 
against  this  brilliant  Southern  commander  with  an  army  three 
times  as  large,  holding  a  strong  position  on  a  mountain  side. 

Banks  with  his  infantry  left  Culpeper  Court  House  on  the 
morning  of  August  9th  and  reached  the  Confederate  strong 
hold  in  the  afternoon.  He  approached  the  mountain  through 
open  fields  in  full  range  of  the  Confederate  cannon,  which 
presently  opened  with  the  roar  of  thunder.  All  heedless  of 
danger  the  brave  men  ran  up  the  slope  as  if  to  take  the  foe  by 
storm,  when  suddenly  they  met  a  brigade  of  Swell's  division 
face  to  face  and  a  brief,  deadly  encounter  took  place.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  Confederate  right  flank  began  to  waver  and 
would  no  doubt  have  been  routed  but  for  the  timely  aid  of 
another  brigade  and  still  another  that  rushed  down  the  hill  and 
opened  fire  on  the  Federal  lines  which  extended  along  the  east 
ern  bank  of  Cedar  Run. 

Meanwhile  the  Union  batteries  had  been  wheeled  into 
position  and  their  deep  roar  answered  that  of  the  foe  on 
the  hill.  For  two  or  three  hours  the  battle  continued  with  the 
utmost  fury.  The  ground  was  strewn  with  dead  and  dying 


a 


SURVIVORS  OF  THE  FIGHTING  TENTH 


When  Crawford's  troops  were  driven  back  by  A.  P.  Hill,  he  halted  on  the  edge  of  a  wheatfield,  where  he  was  reenforced  by  the  Tenth 
Maine.  For  nearly  half  an  hour  it  held  its  own,  losing  out  of  its  461  officers  and  men  173  in  killed  and  wounded.  A  few  days  after  the 
battle  some  survivors  had  a  picture  taken  on  the  exact  spot  where  they  had  so  courageously  fought.  The  remains  of  the  cavalry  horses 
can  be  seen  in  the  trampled  field  of  wheat.  From  left  to  right  these  men  are:  Lieutenant  Littlefield,  Lieutenant  Whitney,  Lieut.-Colonel 
Fillebrown,  Captain  Knowlton,  and  First-Sergeant  Jordan,  of  Company  C. 


THE  HOUSE  WELL  NAMED 


Slaughter's  house,  overlooking  the  scene  of  carnage  of  Cedar  Mountain,  stood  on  the  northern  slope  in  the  rear  of  the  position  taken  by 
the  Confederate  troops  under  General  Ewell.  The  brigades  of  Trimble  and  Hayes  were  drawn  up  near  this  house,  at  some  distance  from 
the  brigade  of  Early.  After  the  battle  the  whole  of  Jackson's  army  was  drawn  up  on  the  slopes  near  it. 


H0utttam— f  0pi»'0  Abuanr?  te 


and  human  blood  was  poured  out  like  water.  But  the  odds 
were  too  great  and  at  length,  as  the  shades  of  evening  were 
settling  over  the  gory  field,  Banks  began  to  withdraw  the 
remnant  of  his  troops.  But  he  left  two  thousand  of  his  brave 
lads — one  fourth  of  his  whole  army — dead  or  dying  along  the 
hillside,  while  the  Confederate  losses  were  in  excess  of  thirteen 
hundred. 

The  dead  and  wounded  of  both  armies  lay  mingled  in 
masses  over  the  whole  battle-field.  While  the  fighting  con 
tinued,  neither  side  could  send  aid  or  relief  to  the  maimed  sol 
diers,  who  suffered  terribly  from  thirst  and  lack  of  attention  as 
the  sultry  day  gave  place  to  a  close,  oppressive  night. 

General  Pope  had  remained  at  Culpeper,  but,  hearing 
the  continuous  cannonading  and  knowing  that  a  sharp  en 
gagement  was  going  on,  hastened  to  the  battle-field  in  the 
afternoon  with  a  fresh  body  of  troops  under  General  Ricketts, 
arriving  just  before  dark.  He  instantly  ordered  Banks  to 
withdraw  his  right  wing  so  as  to  make  room  for  Ricketts ;  but 
the  Confederates,  victorious  as  they  had  been,  refused  to  con 
tinue  the  contest  against  the  reenforcements  and  withdrew  to 
the  woods  up  the  mountain  side.  Heavy  shelling  was  kept  up 
by  the  hard-worked  artillerymen  of  both  armies  until  nearly 
midnight,  while  the  Federal  troops  rested  on  their  arms  in 
line  of  battle.  For  two  days  the  armies  faced  each  other 
across  the  valley.  Then  both  quietly  withdrew.  Pope's  first 
battle  as  leader  of  an  Eastern  army  had  resulted  in  neither  vic 
tory  nor  defeat. 


CONFEDERATES   CAPTURED   AT  CEDAR   MOUNTAIN,  IN   CULPEPER  COURT  HOUSE,  AUGUST,  1862 

The  Confederate  prisoners  on  the  balcony  seem  to  be  taking  their  situation  very  placidly.  They  have  evidently  been  doing  some  family 
laundry,  and  have  hung  the  results  out  to  dry.  The  sentries  lounging  beneath  the  colonnade  below,  and  the  two  languid  individuals 
leaning  up  against  the  porch  and  tree,  add  to  the  peacefulness  of  the  scene.  At  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain,  August  9,  1861,  the 
above  with  other  Confederates  were  captured  and  temporarily  confined  in  this  county  town  of  Culpeper.  Like  several  other  Virginia 
towns,  it  does  not  boast  a  name  of  its  own,  but  is  universally  known  as  Culpeper  Court  House.  A  settlement  had  grown  up  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  courthouse,  and  the  scene  was  enlivened  during  the  sessions  of  court  by  visitors  from  miles  around. 


SECOND  BATTLE  OF  BULL  RUN 


\\ 


The  battle  was  indeed  one  of  wjiich  General  Lee  had  good  reason  to 
be  proud.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  better  instance  of  that  masterly 
comprehension  of  the  actual  condition  of  things  which  marks  a  great  gen 
eral  than  was  exhibited  in  General  Lee's  allowing  our  formidable  attack,  in 
which  more  than  half  the  Federal  army  was  taking  part,  to  be  fully  de 
veloped  and  to  burst  upon  the  exhausted  troops  of  Stonewall  Jackson, 
while  Lee,  relying  upon  the  ability  of  that  able  soldier  to  maintain  his 
position,  was  maturing  and  arranging  for  the  great  attack  on  our  left  flank 
by  the  powerful  corps  of  Longstreet. — John  C.  Hopes,  in  "The  Army 
Under  Pope" 

THE  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain  was  but  a  prelude  to  the 
far  greater  one  that  was  to  take  place  three  weeks  later 
on  the  banks  of  the  little  stream  that  had  given  its  name,  the 
year  before,  to  the  first  important  battle  of  the  war;  and  here 
again  the  result  to  be  registered  was  similar  to  that  of  the 
preceding  year — a  result  that  brought  dismay  to  the  peo 
ple  of  the  North  and  exultation  to  the  adherents  of  the  South 
ern  cause.  The  three  intervening  weeks  between  the  battles 
of  Cedar  Mountain  and  the  Second  Bull  Run  were  spent  in 
sparring,  in  marshaling  the  armed  hosts,  in  heavy  skirmishing 
and  getting  position  for  a  final  decisive  struggle. 

Two  events  of  this  period  invite  special  attention.  The 
respective  heroes  were  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  the  daring  Southern 
cavalry  leader,  and  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson.  The  victim  in  each 
case  was  General  Pope.  Before  relating  these  incidents,  how 
ever,  we  must  take  a  general  view  of  the  field.  General  Pope's 
headquarters  at  this  moment  were  at  Culpeper,  with  a  large 
part  of  his  army,  but  he  had  left  much  of  his  personal  baggage 
and  many  of  his  private  papers  at  Catlett's,  a  station  on  the 
Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad  between  Culpeper  and 


// 


7 A 


THE  UNHEEDED  WARNING 


Here  we  see  Catlett's  Station,  on 
the  Orange  &  Alexandria  Rail 
road,  which  Stuart's  cavalry 
seized  in  a  night  sortie  on  August 
22,  1862.  The  damage  done  was 
not  severe.  Stuart  was  unable 
to  burn  the  loaded  wagon-trains 
surrounding  the  station  and  had 
to  content  himself  with  capturing 
horses,  which  he  mounted  with 
wounded  Federal  soldiers;  he 
escaped  at  four  the  next  morning, 
driven  off  by  the  approach  of  a 
superior  force.  Pope,  at  the 
time,  was  in  possession  of  the 
fords  of  the  Rappahannock,  try 
ing  to  check  the  Confederate  ad 
vance  toward  the  Shenandoah. 

Stuarfr's  raid,  however,  so  alarmed  General  Halleck  that  he 
immediately  telegraphed  Pope  from  Washington:  "By  no  means 
expose  your  railroad  communication  with  Alexandria.  It  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  in  sending  your  supplies  and  reinforce 
ments."  Pope  did  not  fall  back  upon  his  railroad  communica 
tion,  however,  until  after  Jackson  had  seized  Manassas  Junction. 


CATLETT'S   STATION 


At  Manassas  Junction,  as  it  ap 
peared  in  the  upper  picture  on 
August  26,  1862,  is  one  of  the 
great  neglected  strategic  points 
in  the  theater  of  the  war. 
Twenty-five  miles  from  Alexan 
dria  and  thirty  miles  in  a  direct 
line  from  Washington,  it  was  al 
most  within  long  cannon-shot 
from  any  point  in  both  the  luck 
less  battles  of  Bull  Run.  It  was 
on  the  railway  route  connecting 
with  Richmond,  and  at  the  junc 
tion  of  the  railway  running  across 
the  entrance  to  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  and  beyond  the  Blue 
Ridge,  through  Manassas  Gap. 
The  Confederates  knew  its  value, 

and  after  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run  built  the  fortifications  which 
we  see  in  the  upper  picture,  to  the  left  beyond  the  supply-cars 
on  the  railroad.  Pope,  after  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain, 
should  have  covered  it,  extending  his  lines  so  as  to  protect  it 
from  Jackson's  incursion  through  Thoroughfare  Gap;  instead  he 
held  the  main  force  of  his  army  opposing  that  of  Lee. 


at  lull  Sun 


August 
1862 


Manassas  Junction,  while  his  vast  store  of  army  supplies  was 
at  the  latter  place. 

Pope's  great  source  of  uncertainty  lay  in  the  fact  that 
he  did  not  know  whether  Lee  would  move  against  him  or  would 
follow  McClellan  in  the  latter's  retreat  from  the  Peninsula; 
nor  did  he  know  when  the  reenforcements  promised  from 
McClellan's  army  would  reach  him.  Meanwhile  Lee  had  de 
cided  to  let  McClellan  depart  in  peace  and  to  advance  against 
Pope,  \\dth  the  whole  Confederate  army.  To  this  end  Long- 
street  was  ordered  to  the  scene  and  with  his  corps  he  reached 
Gordonsville  on  August  13th. 

A  few  days  later  the  two  Confederate  generals,  Lee  and 
Longstreet,  ascended  to  the  top  of  Clark's  Mountain,  from 
which,  through  powerful  field-glasses,  they  obtained  a  good 
view  of  Culpeper,  about  twelve  miles  away.  They  saw  that 
Pope's  position  was  weak  and  determined  to  attack  him  with 
out  delay.  Lee  ordered  his  army  to  cross  the  Rapidan.  He  also 
sent  a  courier  to  gallop  across  the  country  with  an  important 
dispatch  to  General  Stuart,  disclosing  his  plans.  It  was  now 
that  General  Pope  met  fortune;  he  captured  the  courier  and 
learned  of  Lee's  plans.  Pope  knew  that  he  was  not  in  position 
to  meet  Lee's  army  at  Culpeper,  and  he  withdrew  from  that 
place  and  took  up  a  strong  position  behind  the  Rappahannock. 
Lee  had  strained  every  nerve  to  get  at  his  antagonist  before 
the  latter  left  Culpeper  and  before  he  could  be  reenforced  by 
McClellan's  army.  But  sudden  rains  changed  the  Rappahan 
nock  from  a  placid  stream  into  a  rushing  torrent.  The  Con 
federates  were  delayed  and  meantime  the  reenforcements  from 
the  Peninsula  began  to  reach  Pope's  army.  General  Reno 
with  a  part  of  Burnside's  corps  was  on  the  ground  by  August 
14th.  One  week  later  came  Generals  Kearny  and  Reynolds 
—both  splendid  leaders,  both  destined  to  give  their  lives  for 
their  country  within  a  year — to  join  the  Army  of  Virginia  with 
some  thousands  of  additional  fighters  from  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 


L 


OT   PUB.    CO. 


WHERE  THE  THUNDERBOLT  FELL 


The  havoc  wrought  by  the  Confederate  attack  of  August  26th  on  the  Federal  supply  depot  at  Manassas 
Junction  is  here  graphically  preserved.  When  Jackson  arrived  at  sunset  of  that  day  at  Bristoe's  Station, 
on  the  Orange  &  Alexandria  Railroad,  he  knew  that  his  daring  movement  would  be  reported  to  Pope's 
forces  by  the  trains  that  escaped  both  north  and  south.  To  save  themselves,  the  troops  that  had  already 
marched  twenty-five  miles  had  to  make  still  further  exertions.  Trimble  volunteered  to  move  on  Manassas 
Junction;  and,  under  command  of  Stuart,  a  small  force  moved  northward  through  the  woods.  At  mid 
night  it  arrived  within  half  a  mile  of  the  Junction.  The  Federal  force  greeted  it  with  artillery  fire,  but 
when  the  Confederates  charged  at  the  sound  of  the  bugle  the  gunners  abandoned  the  batteries  to  the  as 
saulters.  Some  three  hundred  of  the  small  Federal  garrison  were  captured,  with  the  immense  stores  that 
filled  the  warehouses  to  overflowing.  The  next  morning  Hill's  and  Taliaferro's  divisions  arrived  to  hold  the 
position.  The  half-starved  troops  were  now  in  possession  of  all  that  was  needed  to  make  them  an  effective 
force.  Jackson  was  now  in  position  to  control  the  movements  of  the  Federal  army  under  Pope. 


r  ^>woni>  fBattl?  at  lluU  Shut     •»*.•*• 

August 
1862 

^^^WS^««r- 

Lee  was  completely  thwarted  in  his  purpose  of  attacking 
Pope  before  his  reenforcements  arrived.  But  he  was  not  idle. 
He  sent  the  dauntless  cavalry  leader,  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  to  make 
a  raid  around  the  Union  army.  Stuart  did  this  effectively,  and 
this  was  the  first  of  the  two  notable  events  of  these  weeks  of 
sparring.  Crossing  the  Rappahannock  at  Waterloo  Bridge 
with  fifteen  hundred  mounted  men  as  bold  and  dauntless  as 
himself,  Stuart  dashed  up  the  country,  riding  all  day  and  all 
night.  After  the  coming  of  night  on  the  evening  of  the 
22d,  in  the  midst  of  a  torrential  rainstorm,  while  the  darkness 
was  so  intense  that  every  man  was  guided  by  the  tread  of  his 
brother  horsemen,  Stuart  pounced  upon  the  Federals  near  Cat- 
lett's  Station,  overpowered  the  astonished  guard,  captured 
nearly  two  hundred  prisoners,  scattering  the  remainder  of  the 
troops  stationed  there  far  and  wide  in  the  darkness,  and  seized 
Pope's  despatch-book  with  his  plans  and  private  papers.  Stu 
art  took  also  several  hundred  fine  horses  and  burned  a  large 
number  of  wagons  laden  with  supplies.  Among  his  trophies 
was  a  fine  uniform  cloak  and  hat  which  wer£  the  personal  prop 
erty  of  General  Pope.  These  were  exchanged  on  the  follow 
ing  day  for  General  Stuart's  plumed  hat  which  a  few  days 
before  had  been  left  behind  by  that  officer  when  surprised  by 
Federal  _troops. 

otuart's  bold  raid  proved  a  serious  misfortune  for  the 
Union  army.  But  Lee  had  far  greater  things  in  store.  His 
next  move  was  to  send  Jackson  to  Pope's  rear  with  a  large 
part  of  the  Confederate  army.  Stealthily  Jackson  led  his 
army  westward,  shielded  by  the  woods,  the  thickets,  and  the 
low  hills  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  It  was  a  quiet  rural  community 
through  which  he  passed.  The  great  majority  of  the  simple 
country  folk  had  never  seen  an  army,  though  it  is  true  that 
for  many  days  the  far-away  boom  of  cannon,  had  reached  their 
ears  from  the  valley  of  the  Rapidan.  Now  here  was  a  real 
army  at  their  very  doors.  Nor  was  it  a  hostile  army,  for  their 
sympathies  were  Southern.  With  baskets  and  armfuls  of 


J555IMJ 
1 


GUARDING  THE  "O.  &  A."  NEAR  UNION  MILLS 

Jackson's  raid  around  Pope's  army  on  Bristoe  and  Manassas  stations  in  August,  1862,  taught  the  Federal  generals  that  both  railroad 
and  base  of  supplies  must  be  guarded.      Pope's  army  was  out  of  subsistence  and  forage,  and  the  single-track  railroad  was  inadequate. 


DEBRIS  FROM  JACKSON'S  RAID  ON  THE  ORANGE  AND  ALEXANDRIA  RAILROAD 

This  scrap-heap  at  Alexandria  was  composed  of  the  remains  of  cars  and  engines  destroyed  by  Jackson  at  Bristoe  and  Manassas  stations. 
The  Confederate  leader  marched  fifty  miles  in  thirty-six  hours  through  Thoroughfare  Gap,  which  Pope  had  neglected  to  guard. 


Haiti?  at  lull  Shin     *       *       * 


v, 


bread  and  pies  and  cakes  they  cheered  as  best  they  could  the 
tattered  and  hungry  men  on  the  march. 

General  Lee  in  the  meantime  had  kept  Longstreet  in 
front  of  Pope's  army  on  the  Rappahannock  to  make  daily 
demonstrations  and  feints  and  thus  to  divert  Pope's  attention 
from  Jackson's  movements  and  lead  him  to  believe  that  he  was 
to  be  attacked  in  front.  The  trick  was  eminently  successful. 
"  Stonewall "  Jackson  suddenly,  on  August  26th,  emerged 
from  the  Bull  Run  Mountains  by  way  of  the  Thoroughfare 
Gap  and  marshaled  his  clans  on  the  plains  of  Manassas,  but 
a  few  miles  from  the  site  of  the  famous  battle  of  the  year 
before. 

Pope  had  taken  alarm.  He  was  astonished  to  find  Jack 
son  in  his  rear,  and  he  had  to  decide  instantly  between  two 
courses — to  abandon  his  communications  with  Fredericksburg 
on  the  one  hand,  or  with  Alexandria  and  Washington  on 
the  other.  He  decided  to  keep  in  touch  with  Washington  at 
all  hazards.  Breaking  his  camp  on  the  Rappahannock,  he 
hastened  with  all  speed  to  lead  his  forces  toward  Manassas 
Junction,  where  he  had  stored  vast  quantities  of  provisions  and 
munitions  of  war.  But  he  was  too  late  to  save  them.  Jackson 
had  been  joined  by  Stuart  and  his  cavalry.  On  the  evening  of 
the  26th  they  were  still  some  miles  from  Manassas  and  Trimble 
was  sent  ahead  to  make  sure  the  capture  before  Pope's  army 
could  arrive.  Through  the  darkness  rode  these  same  hardy 
men  who  had  a  few  nights  before  made  their  bold  raid  on  Cat- 
lett's  Station.  Before  midnight  they  reached  Manassas.  They 
met  little  opposition.  The  guard  was  overpowered.  The  spoils 
of  this  capture  were  great,  including  three  hundred  prisoners, 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  horses,  ten  locomotives,  seven 
long  trains  of  provisions,  and  vast  stores  and  munitions  of  war. 

Next  morning  the  weary  and  hungry  foot  soldiers  of 
Jackson's  army  came  upon  the  scene  and  whatever  else  they 
did  they  feasted  as  only  hungry  men  can.  An  eye-witness 
wrote,  '  To  see  a  starving  man  eating  lobster-salad  and 


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O     ps 


Haiti?  at  lull  Sun      * 


drinking  Rhine  wine,  barefooted  and  in  tatters,  was  curious; 
the  whole  thing  was  incredible." 

The  amazement  at  the  North  when  the  news  of  the  cap-  ^TT^xtl 
ture  of  Manassas  became  known  cannot  be  described.  But 
the  newspapers  belittled  it,  declaring  that  it  was  merely  a  bold 
raid  and  that  for  any  large  force  to  get  between  Pope's  army 
and  Washington  before  Pope  became  aware  of  the  attempt 
was  simply  impossible. 

Jackson  had  done  an  astonishing  thing.  But  his  position 
was  precarious,  nevertheless.  Pope  was  moving  toward  him 
with  a  far  larger  army,  recently  augmented  by  Heintzelman's 
corps  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  while  Fitz  John  Porter 
with  an  additional  force  was  not  far  off.  It  is  true  that 
Longstreet  was  hastening  to  the  aid  of  Jackson,  but  he  had 
to  come  by  the  same  route  which  had  brought  Jackson- 
through  Thoroughfare  Gap — and  Pope  thought  he  saw  a 
great  opportunity.  If  he  could  only  detain  Longstreet  at 
the  gap,  why  should  he  not  crush  Jackson  with  his  superior 
numbers?  To  this  end  he  sent  orders  to  Porter,  to  McDowell, 
and  to  Kearny  and  others  whose  forces  were  scattered  about 
the  cpu/itry,  to  concentrate  during  the  night  of  the  27th 
and  'move  upon  Jackson.  McDowell  sent  Ricketts  with  a 
small  force— too  small — to  prevent  Longstreet  from  passing 
through  Thoroughfare  Gap,  and  hastened  to  join  the  main 
army  against  Jackson.  But  that  able  commander  was  not  to 
be  caught  in  a  trap.  He  moved  from  Manassas  Junction  by 
three  roads  toward  the  old  battle-field  of  Bull  Run  and  by 
noon  on  the  28th  the  whole  corps  was  once  more  united  between 
Centreville  and  Sudley  Spring.  Late  in  the  day  he  encoun 
tered  King's  division  of  McDowell's  corps  near  the  village  of 
Groveton,  and  a  sharp  fight  was  opened  and  kept  up  till  an 
hour  after  dark.  The  Confederates  were  left  in  possession  of 
the  field. 

The  following  day,  August  29th,  was  the  first  of  the  two 
days'  battle,  leaving  out  of  account  the  fight  of  the  evening 


THE  TRAIN  "STONEWALL"  JACKSON 
AND  STUART  STOPPED  AT  BRISTOE 

By  a  move  of  unparalleled  boldness,  "Stone 
wall"  Jackson,  with  twenty  thousand  men, 
captured  the  immense  Union  supplies  at 
Manassas  Junction,  August  2G,  1802.  His  was 
a  perilous  position.  Washington  lay  one  day's 
march  to  the  north;  Warrenton,  Pope's  head 
quarters,  but  twelve  miles  distant  to  the 
southwest;  and  along  the  Rappahannock, 
between  "Stonewall"  Jackson  and  Lee,  stood 
the  tents  of  another  host  which  outnumbered 
the  whole  Confederate  army.  "Stonewall" 
Jackson  had  seized  Bristoe  Station  in  order  to 
break  down  the  railway  bridge  over  Broad 
Run,  and  to  proceed  at  his  leisure  with  the 
destruction  of  the  stores.  A  train  returning 
empty  from  "VVarrenton  Junction  to  Alexan 
dria  darted  through  the  station  under  heavy 
fire.  The  line  Was  promptly  torn  up.  Two 
trains  which  followed  in  the  same  direction  as 
the  first  went  crashing  down  a  high  embank 
ment.  The  report  received  at  Alexandria 
from  the  train  which  escaped  ran  as  fol 


lows:   "No.  6  train,    engine   Secretary,  was 
fired  into  at  Bristoe  by  a  party  of  cavalry 
some  five  hundred  strong.     They  had  piled 
ties  on  the  track,  but  the  engine  threw  them 
off.     Secretary  is  completely  riddled  by  bul 
lets."     It  was  a  full  day  before  the  Federals 
realized  that  "Stonewall"  Jackson  was  really 
there  with  a  large  force.     Here,  in  abundance, 
was  all  that  had  been  absent  for  some  time; 
besides  commissary  stores  of  all  sorts,  there 
were  two  trains  loaded  with  new  clothing,  to 
say  nothing  of  sutler's  stores,  replete   with 
"extras"  not  enumerated  in  the  regulations, 
and  also  the  camp  of  a  cavalry  regiment  which 
had  vacated  in  favor  of  Jackson's  men.     It 
was  an  interesting  sight  to  see  the  hungry, 
travel- worn  men  attacking  this  profusion  and 
rewarding  themselves  for  all  their  fatigues  and 
deprivations  of  the  preceding  few  days,  and 
their  enjoyment  of  it  and  of  the  day's  rest 
allowed  them.      There  was  a  great  deal  of 
difficulty  for  a  time  in  finding  what  each  man 
needed  most,  but  this  was  overcome  through 
a  crude  barter  of  belongings  as  the  day  wore  on. 


v~\ 


iwotth  Sattl?  at  lull  Sun      *       +       * 


before  and  the  desultory  fighting  of  the  preceding  ten  days. 
General  Pope  was  still  hopeful  of  crushing  Jackson  before  the 
arrival  of  Long-street,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  29th  he 
ordered  a  general  advance  across  Bull  Run.  As  the  noon  hour 
approached  a  wild  shout  that  arose  from  Jackson's  men  told 
too  well  of  the  arrival  of  Longstreet.  Far  away  on  the  hills 
near  Gainesville  could  be  seen  the  marching  columns  of  Long- 
street,  who  had  passed  through  the  gap  in  safety  and  who  was 
now  rushing  to  the  support  of  Jackson.  The  Confederate 
army  was  at  last  to  be  reunited.  Jackson  was  greatly  relieved. 
Pope  had  lost  his  opportunity  of  fighting  the  army  of  his 
opponent  in  sections. 

The  field  was  almost  the  same  that  the  opposing  forces 
had  occupied  a  year  and  a  month  before  when  the  first  great 
battle  of  the  war  was  fought.  And  many  of  them  were  the 
same  men.  Some  who  had  engaged  in  that  first  conflict  had 
gone  home  and  had  refused  to  reenlist;  others  had  found  sol 
diers'  graves  since  then — but  still  others  on  both  sides  were 
here  again,  no  longer  the  raw  recruits  that  they  were  before, 
but,  with  their  year  of  hard  experience  in  the  field,  they  were 
trained  soldiers,  equal  to  any  in  the  world. 

The  two  armies  faced  each  other  in  a  line  nearly  five  miles 
long.  There  was  heavy  fighting  here  and  there  along  the  line 
from  the  early  morning  hours,  but  no  general  engagement 
until  late  in  the  afternoon.  The  Union  right  pressed  hard 
against  the  Confederate  left  and  by  ten  o'clock  had  forced  it 
back  more  than  a  mile.  But  the  Confederates,  presently  reen- 
forced  in  that  quarter,  hurled  heavy  masses  of  infantry  against 
the  Union  right  and  regained  much  that  it  had  lost.  Late  in 
the  afternoon  fresh  regiments  under  Kearny  and  Hooker 
charged  the  Confederate  left,  which  was  swept  back  and  rolled 
in  upon  the  center.  But  presently  the  Southern  General  Hood, 
with  his  famous  Texan  brigade,  rushed  forward  in  a  wild, 
irresistible  dash,  pressed  Kearny  back,  captured  one  gun, 
several  flags  and  a  hundred  prisoners.  Night  then  closed  over 


A  START  TOO  LONG  DELAYED 


Where  the  troops  of  General  McC'lellan,  waiting  near  the 
round-house  at  Alexandria,  were  hurried  forward  to  the  scene  of 
action  where  Pope  was  struggling  with  Jackson  and  Ewell.  Pope 
had  counted  upon  the  assistance  of  these 
re  enforcements  in  making  the  forward 
movement  by  which  he  expected  to  hold 
Lee  back.  The  old  bogey  of  leaving  the 
National  Capital  defenseless  set  up  a  vacil 
lation  in  General  Halleck's  mind  and  the 
troops  were  held  overlong  at  Alexandria. 
Had  they  been  promptly  forwarded, 
"Stonewall"  Jackson's  blow  at  Manassas 
Junction  could  not  have  been  struck.  At 
the  news  of  that  disaster  the  troops  were 
hurriedly  despatched  down  the  railroad 
toward  Manassas.  But  Pope  was  already  in 
retreat  in  three  columns  toward  that  point, 
McDowell  had  failed  to  intercept  the  Con 
federate  reinforcements  coming  through 
Thoroughfare  Gap,  and  the  situation  had 
become  critical.  General  Taylor,  with  his 
brigade  of  New  Jersey  troops,  was  the 
first  of  McClellan's  forces  to  be  moved 
forward  to  the  aid  of  Pope.  At  Union 


BRIGADIER- 
GEORGE  W 


Mills,  Colonel  Scammon,  commanding  the  First  Brigade,  driven 
back  from  Manassas  Junction,  was  further  pressed  by  the  Confed 
erates  on  the  morning  of  August  27th.  Later  in  the  day  General 

Taylor's   brigade  arrived   by   the   Fairfax 

road  and,  crossing  the  railroad  bridge,  met 
the  Confederates  drawn  up  and  waiting 
near  Manassas  Station.  A  severe  artillery 
fire  greeted  the  Federals  as  they  emerged 
from  the  woods.  As  General  Taylor  had 
no  artillery,  he  was  obliged  either  to 
retire  or  charge.  He  chose  the  latter. 
When  the  Confederate  cavalry  threatened 
to  surround  his  small  force,  however, 
Taylor  fell  back  in  good  order  across  the 
bridge,  where  two  Ohio  regiments  assisted 
in  holding  the  Confederates  in  check.  At 
this  point,  General  Taylor,  who  had  been 
wounded  in  the  retreat,  was  borne  past 
in  a  litter.  Though  suffering  much, 
he  appealed  to  the  officers  to  prevent 
another  Bull  Run.  The  brigade  retired 
in  good  order  to  Fairfax  Court  House, 
•GENERAL  where  General  Taylor  died  of  his  wounds 

TAYLOR  a  short  time  afterward. 


Saitl*  at  lull  Sun     *       * 


# 


the  scene  and  the  two  armies  rested  on  their  arms  until  the 
morning. 

The  first  day's  battle  is  sometimes  called  the  battle  of 
Groveton,  but  usually  it  is  considered  as  the  first  half  of 
the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run.  It  was  a  formidable  con 
flict  in  itself.  The  Union  loss  was  at  least  forty-five  hun 
dred  men,  the  Confederate  was  somewhat  larger.  Over  the 
gory  field  lay  multitudes  of  men,  the  blue  and  the  gray  com 
mingled,  who  would  dream  of  battlefields  no  more.  The 
living  men  lay  down  among  the  dead  in  order  to  snatch  a 
little  rest  and  strength  that  they  might  renew  the  strife  in 
the  morning. 

It  is  a  strange  fact  that  Lee  and  Pope  each  believed  that 
the  other  would  withdraw  his  army  during  the  night,  and  each 
was  surprised  in  the  morning  to  find  his  opponent  still  on  the 
ground,  ready,  waiting,  defiant.  It  was  quite  certain  that  on 
this  day,  August  30th,  there  would  be  a  decisive  action  and 
that  one  of  the  two  armies  would  be  victor  and  the  other  de 
feated.  The  two  opposing  commanders  had  called  in  their 
outlying  battalionsajid  the  armies  now  faced  each  other  in 
almost  full  force,  [the  Confederates  with  over  fifty  thousand 
men  and  the  Union  forces  exceeding  their  opponents  by  prob 
ably  fifteen  thousand  men.  The  Confederate  left  wing  was 
commanded  by  Jackson,  and  the  right  by  Longstreet.  The 
extreme  left  of  the  Union  army  was  under  Fitz  John  Porter, 
who,  owing  to  a  misunderstanding  of  orders,  had  not  reached 
the  field  the  day  before.  The  center  was  commanded  by 
Heintzelman  and  the  right  by  Reno. 

In  the  early  hours  of  the  morning  the  hills  echoed  with 
the  firing  of  artillery,  with  which  the  day  was  opened.  Porter 
made  an  infantry  attack  in  the  forenoon,  but  was  met  by 
the  enemy  in  vastly  superior  numbers  and  was  soon  pressed 
back  in  great  confusion.  As  the  hours  passed  one  fear 
ful  attack  followed  another,  each  side  in  turn  pressing  for 
ward  and  again  receding.  In  the  afternoon  a  large  part  of 


August 
1862 


a 


.••.. 


^B 


AN  UNREALIZED   OPPORTUNITY 

Here  might  have  been  won  a  Federal  victory  that  would  have  precluded  defeat  at  Second  Bull 
Run.  The  corps  of  General  Heintzelman,  consisting  of  the  divisions  of  Hooker  and  Kearny,  was 
the  next  detachment  of  McClellan's  forces  to  arrive  to  the  aid  of  Pope.  On  the  28th  of  August, 
Heintzelman  had  pushed  forward  to  Centreville,  entering  it  soon  after  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson's 
rear-guard  had  retired.  Instead  of  pursuing,  Heintzelman  drew  up  his  forces  east  of  Cub  Run, 
which  we  see  in  the  picture.  Jackson's  forces,  now  in  a  precarious  position,  fell  back  toward 
Thoroughfare  Gap  to  form  a  junction  with  Longstreet's  Corps,  which  Lee  had  sent  forward.  The 
battle  was  commenced  on  the  west  somewhat  feebly  by  Generals  McDowell  and  Sigel.  By  night 
fall  the  Confederate  left  had  been  driven  back  fully  a  mile. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  SAMUEL  P.   HEINTZELMAN   AND   STAFF 


ISatil?  at 


Sltm 


the  Union  army  made  a  desperate  onslaught  on  the  Confed 
erate  left  under  Jackson.  Here  for  some  time  the  slaughter 
of  men  was  fearful.  It  was  nearing  sunset.  Jackson  saw  that 
his  lines  were  wavering.  Pie  called  for  reenforcements  which 
did  not  come  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  Federals  were  about  to 
win  a  signal  victory.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  Far  away  on  a 
little  hill  at  the  Confederate  right  Longstreet  placed  four  bat 
teries  in  such  a  position  that  he  could  enfilade  the  Federal  col 
umns.  Quickly  he  trained  his  cannon  on  the  Federal  lines  that 
were  hammering  away  at  Jackson,  and  opened  fire.  Ghastly 
gaps  were  soon  cut  in  the  Federal  ranks  and  they  fell  back. 
But  they  re-formed  and  came  again  and  still  again,  each  time 
only  to  be  mercilessly  cut  down  by  Longstreet's  artillery.  At 
length  Longstreet's  whole  line  rushed  forward,  and  with  the 
coming  of  darkness,  the  whole  Union  front  began  to  waver. 

General  Lee,  seeing  this,  ordered  the  Confederates  in  all 
parts  of  the  field  to  advance.  With  wild,  triumphant  yells  they 
did  so.  It  was  now  dark  and  there  was  little  more  fighting; 
but  Lee  captured  several  thousand  prisoners.  Pope  retreated 
across  Bull  Run  with  the  remnant  of  his  army  and  by  morning 
was  ensconced  behind  the  field-works  at  Centreville. 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  fact  that  General  Pope  had 
lost  the  battle  and  the  campaign.  He  decided  to  lead  his  army 
back  to  the  entrenchments  of  Washington.  After  spending  a 
day  behind  the  embankments  at  Centreville,  the  retreat  was 
begun.  Lee's  troops  with  Jackson  in  the  advance  pursued  and 
struck  a  portion  of  the  retreating  army  at  Chantilly. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  of  September  1st.  The  rain, 
accompanied  by  vivid  lightning  and  terrific  crashes  of  thunder, 
was  falling  in  torrents  as  Stuart's  horsemen,  sent  in  advance, 
were  driven  back  by  the  Federal  infantry.  Jackson  now 
pushed  two  of  A.  P.  Hill's  brigades  forward  to  ascertain  the 
condition  of  the  Union  army.  General  Reno  was  protecting 
Pope's  right  flank,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  proceeding  against 
Hill.  The  latter  was  promptly  checked,  and  both  forces  took 


MAJOR-GENERAL   R.    S. 
EWELL 


THE  TWICE-WON  FIELD 

Sleeping  on  their  arms  on  the  night 
of  August  29th,  the  Federal  veterans 
were  as  confident  of  having  won  a 
victory  as  were  the  raw  troops  in  the 
beginning  of  the  first  battle  of  Bull 
Run.  But  the  next  day's  fighting 
was  to  tell  the  tale.  General  Ewell 
had  been  wounded  in  the  knee  by 
a  minie  ball  in  the  severe  fight  at 
Groveton  and  was  unable  to  lead 
his  command;  but  for  the  impetuos 
ity  of  this  commander  was  substi 
tuted  that  of  Longstreet,  nicknamed 
"the  War-Horse,"  whose  arrival  in 
the  midst  of  the  previous  day's  en- 


MAJOR-GENERAL  JAMES 
LONGSTREET 


gagement  had  cost  the  Federals  dear.  On  the  morning  of  the  second  day  Longstreet's  batteries  opened 
the  engagement.  When  the  general  advance  came,  as  the  sun  shone  on  the  parallel  lines  of  glittering  bayo 
nets,  it  was  Longstreet's  men  bringing  their  muskets  to  "  the  ready  "  who  first  opened  fire  with  a  long 
flash  of  flame.  It  was  they  who  pressed  most  eagerly  forward  and,  in  the  face  of  the  Federal  batteries, 
fell  upon  the  troops  of  General  McDowell  at  the  left  and  drove  them  irresistibly  back.  Although  the 
right  Federal  wing,  in  command  of  General  Heintzelman,  had  not  given  an  inch,  it  was  this  turning  of  the 
left  by  Longstreet  which  put  the  whole  Federal  army  in  retreat,  driving  them  across  Bull  Run.  The  Con 
federates  were  left  in  possession  of  the  field,  where  lay  thousands  of  Federal  dead  and  wounded,  and  Lee 
was  free  to  advance  his  victorious  troops  into  the  North  unmolested. 


THE  BATTLE-FIELD  OF  SECOND  BULL  RUN  (MANASSAS),  AUGUST  29-30,  1862 


Sattl?  at  lull  Jftrat 


position  for  battle.  One  side  and  then  the  other  fell  back  in 
turn  as  lines  were  re-formed  and  urged  forward.  ISigh4:  fell 
and  the  tempest's  fury  increased.  The  ammunition  of  both 
armies  was  so  wet  that  much  of  it  could  not  be  used.  Try  as 
they  would  the  Confederates  were  unable  to  break  the  Union 
line  and  the  two  armies  finally  withdrew.  The  Confederates 
suffered  a  loss  of  five  hundred  men  in  their^unsuccessful  at 
tempt  to  demoralize  Pope  in  his  retreat,  and  the  Federals  more 
than  a  thousand,  including  Generals  Stevens  and  Kearny. 

General  Kearny  might  have  been  saved  but  for  his  reck 
less  bravery.  He  was  rounding  up  the  retreat  of  his  men 
in  the  darkness  of  the  night  when  he  chanced  to  come  within 
the  Confederate  lines.  Called  on  to  surrender,  he  lay  flat  on 
his  horse's  back,  sank  his  spurs  into  its  sides,  and  attempted  to 
escape.  Half  a  dozen  muskets  were  leveled  and  fired  at  the 
fleeing  general.  Within  thirty  yards  he  rolled  from  his  horse's 
back  dead. 

The  consternation  in  Washington  and  throughout  the 
North  when  Pope's  defeated  army  reached  Arlington  Heights 
can  better  be  imagined  than  described.  General  Pope,  who 
bore  the  brunt  of  public  indignation,  begged  to  be  relieved  of 
the  command.  The  President  complied  with  his  wishes  and 
the  disorganized  remnants  of  the  Army  of  Virginia  and  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  were  handed  to  the  "  Little  Napoleon  " 
of  Peninsula  fame,  George  B.  McClellan. 

The  South  was  overjoyed  with  its  victory — twice  it  had 
unfurled  its  banner  in  triumph  on  the  battlefield  at  Manassas 
by  the  remarkable  strategy  of  its  generals  and  the  courage  of 
its  warriors  on  the  firing-line.  Twice  it  had  stood  literally  on 
the  road  that  led  to  the  capital  of  the  Republic,  only  by  some 
strange  destiny  of  war  to  fail  to  enter  its  precincts  on  the  wave 
of  victory. 


//'  ' 

w/ 

//  ft 


'//W 


THE   FIGHTING   FORTY-FIRST 


"C"  Company  of  the  Forty-first  New  York  after  the  Second 
Battle  of  Bull  Run,  August  30,  1862.  When  the  troops  of  Gen 
erals  Milroy  and  Schurz  were  hard  pressed  by  overpowering  num 
bers  and  exhausted  by  fatigue,  this  New  York  regiment,  being 
ordered  forward,  quickly  advanced  with  a  cheer  along  the  War- 
renton  Turnpike  and  deployed  about  a  mile 
west  of  the  field  of  the  conflict  of  July  21, 
1861.  The  fighting  men  replied  with  an 
swering  shouts,  for  with  the  regiment  that 
came  up  at  the  double  quick  galloped  a 
battery  of  artillery.  The  charging  Con 
federates  were  held  and  this  position  was 
assailed  time  and  again.  It  became  the 
center  of  the  sanguinary  combat  of  the 
'day,  and  it  was  here  that  the  "Bull-Dogs" 
earned  their  name.  Among  the  first  to 
rr-poiul  t<>  Lincoln's  call,  they  enlisted  in 
June.  '61.  ;ind  when  their  first  service  was 
nver  they  .stepped  forward  to  a  man,  speci 
fying  no  term  of  service  but  putting  their 
names  on  the  Honor  Roll  of  "For  the  War." 


Brigadier-General  King,  a  division  commander  in  this  battle,  was 
a  soldier  by  profession,  and  a  diplomatist  and  journalist  by  in 
heritance — for  he  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  a  son  of  Charles 
King,  editor  of  the  New  York  American  in  1827,  and  a  grandson 
of  the  elder  Rufus,  an  officer  of  the  Revolution  and  Minister 
to  the  Court  of  St.  James.  He  had  left 
the  army  in  1836  to  become  Assistant  En 
gineer  of  the  New  York  &  Erie  Railroad, 
a  post  he  gave  up  to  become  editor  of  the 
Daily  Advertiser,  and  subsequently  of  the 
Milwaukee  Sentinel.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  Lincoln  had  appointed  him  Minis 
ter  to  Rome,  but  he  asked  permission  to 
delay  his  departure,  and  was  made  a  Brig 
adier-General  of  Volunteers.  Later  he  re 
signed  as  Minister,  and  was  assigned  to 
McDowell's  corps.  At  the  battle  of  Ma- 
nassas,  in  which  the  Forty-first  New  York 
earned  honor,  he  proved  an  able  leader. 
In  1867  he  was  again  appointed  as 
Minister  of  the  United  States  to  Italy. 


BRIG.-GEN.   RUFUS   KING 


THE   GENERAL-IN-CHIEF  IN   1862 

Major-General  Henry  Wager  Halleck;  born  1814;  West  Point  1839;  died  1872.  Sherman  credits 
Halleck  with  having  first  discovered  that  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  where  the  Tennessee  and 
the  Cumberland  Rivers  so  closely  approach  each  other,  were  the  keypoints  to  the  defensive 
line  of  the  Confederates  in  the  Wrest.  Succeeding  Fremont  in  November,  1861,  Halleck,  im 
portuned  by  both  Grant  and  Foote,  authorized  the  joint  expedition  into  Tennessee,  and  after  its 
successful  outcome  he  telegraphed  to  Washington:  "  Make  Buell,  Grant,  and  Pope  major-generals 
of  volunteers  and  give  me  command  in  the  West.  I  ask  this  in  return  ior  Donelson  and  Henry." 
He  was  chosen  to  be  General-in-Chief  of  the  Federal  Armies  at  the  crisis  created  by  the  failure 
of  Mc-Clellan's  Peninsula  Campaign.  Halleck  held  this  position"trom  July  11,  1862,  until  Grant, 
who  had  succeeded  him  in  the  West,  finally  superseded  him  at  Washington. 


[Part  V] 


Painted  by  E.  Jahn. 


AT    ANTIETAM. 


Copyright,  lyoi,  by  Perrien-Keydel  Co.. 
Detroit,  Mich.,  U.  S.  A. 


y~\ 


ANTIETAM,   OR  SHARPSBURG 

At  Sharpsburg  (Antietam)  was  sprung  the  keystone  of  the  arch  upon 
which  the  Confederate  cause  rested. — James  Long-street,  Lieutenant-General 
C.S.A.,  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War."" 

A  BATTLE  remarkable  in  its  actualities  but  more  won 
derful  in  its  possibilities  was  that  of  Antietam,  with  the 
preceding  capture  of  Harper's  Ferry  and  the  other  interest 
ing  events  that  marked  the  invasion  of  Maryland  by  General 
Lee.  It  was  one  of  the  bloodiest  and  the  most  picturesque 
conflicts  of  the  Civil  War,  and  while  it  was  not  all  that  the 
North  was  demanding  and  not  all  that  many  military  critics 
think  it  might  have  been,  it  enabled  President  Lincoln  to  feel 
that  he  could  with  some  assurance  issue,  as  he  did,  his  Eman 
cipation  Proclamation. 

Lee's  army,  fifty  thousand  strong,  had  crossed  the  Poto 
mac  at  Leesburg  and  had  concentrated  around  Frederick,  the 
scene  of  the  Barbara  Frietchie  legend,  only  forty  miles 
from  Washington.  When  it  became  known  that  Lee,  elated 
by  his  victory  at  Second  Bull  Run,  had  taken  the  daring 
step  of  advancing  into  Maryland,  and  now  threatened  the 
capital  of  the  Republic,  McClellan,  commanding  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  pushed  his  forces  forward  to  encounter  the 
invaders.  Harper's  Ferry,  at  the  junction  of  the  Potomac 
and  the  Shenandoah  rivers,  was  a  valuable  defense  against 
invasion  through  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  but  once  the  Con 
federates  had  crossed  it,  a  veritable  trap.  General  Halleck 
ordered  it  held  and  General  Lee  sent  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson  to 
take  it,  by  attacking  the  fortress  on  the  Virginia  side. 

Jackson  began  his  march  on  September  10th  with  secret 
instructions  from  his  commander  to  encompass  and  capture  the 


nttrtam 


ihtuaaum  0f 


Sept. 
1862 


Federal  garrison  and  the  vast  store  of  war  material  at  this 
place,  made  famous  a  few  years  before  by  old  John  Brown.  To 
conceal  his  purpose  from  the  inhabitants  he  inquired  along  the 
route  about  the  roads  leading  into  Pennsylvania.  It  was  from 
his  march  through  Frederick  that  the  Barbara  Frietchie  story 
took  its  rise.  But  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  General 
Jackson  never  saw  the  good  old  lady,  that  the  story  is  a  myth, 
and  that  Mr.  Whittier,  who  has  given  us  the  popular  poem 
under  the  title  of  her  name,  was  misinformed.  However,  Colo 
nel  H.  K.  Douglas,  who  was  a  member  of  Jackson's  staff, 
relates,  in  "  Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  an  inter 
esting  incident  where  his  commander  on  entering  Middletown 
was  greeted  by  two  young  girls  waving  a  Union  flag.  The 
general  bowed  to  the  young  women,  raised  his  hat,  and  re 
marked  to  some  of  his  officers,  "  We  evidently  have  no  friends 
in  this  town."  Colonel  Douglas  concludes,  "  This  is  about 
the  way  he  would  have  treated  Barbara  Frietchie." 

On  the  day  after  Jackson  left  Frederick  he  crossed  the 
Potomac  by  means  of  a  ford  near  Williamsport  and  on  the 
13th  he  reached  Bolivar  Heights.  Harper's  Ferry  lies  in  a 
deep  basin  formed  by  Maryland  Heights  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Potomac,  Loudon  Heights  on  the  south  bank,  and  Bolivar 
Heights  on  the  west.  The  Shenandoah  River  breaks  through 
the  pass  between  Loudon  and  Bolivar  Heights  and  the  village 
lies  between  the  two  at  the  apex  formed  by  the  junction  of 
the  two  rivers. 

As  Jackson  approached  the  place  by  way  of  Bolivar 
Heights,  Walker  occupied  Loudon  Heights  and  McLaws  in 
vested  Maryland  Heights.  All  were  unopposed  except  Mc 
Laws,  who  encountered  Colonel  Ford  with  a  force  to  dispute 
his  ascent.  Ford,  however,  after  some  resistance,  spiked  his 
guns  and  retired  to  the  Ferry,  where  Colonel  Miles  had  re 
mained  with  the  greater  portion  of  the  Federal  troops.  Had 
Miles  led  his  entire  force  to  Maryland  Heights  he  could  no 
doubt  have  held  his  ground  until  McClellan  came  to  his  relief. 


fit 


JEFFERSON    DAVIS 

ACCORDING    TO    HIS   WIDOW    THE    ONLY    WAR-TIME    PHOTOGRAPH   OF   THE    PRESIDENT    OF    THE    CONFEDERACY 

Thus  appeared  Jefferson  Davis,  who  on  the  eve  of  Antietam  was  facing  one  of  the  gravest  crises  of  his  career.  Eighteen 
months  previously,  on  February  9,  1861,  he  had  been  unanimously  elected  president  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America. 
He  was  then  opposed  to  war.  He  maintained  that  the  secession  of  the  Southern  states  should  be  regarded  as  a  purely  peaceful 
move.  But  events  had  swiftly  drawn  him  and  his  government  into  the  most  stupendous  civil  conflict  of  modern  times.  Now, 
in  September,  1862,  he  was  awaiting  the  decision  of  fate.  The  Southern  forces  had  advanced  northward  triumphantly. 
Elated  by  success,  they  were  at  this  moment  invading  the  territory  of  the  enemy  under  the  leadership  of  Lee,  whose  victories 
had  everywhere  inspired  not  only  confidence  but  enthusiasm  and  devotion.  Should  he  overthrow  the  Northern  armies,  the 
Confederacy  would  be  recognized  abroad  and  its  independence  probably  established  at  home.  Should  he  be  defeated,  no 
one  could  foretell  the  result.  Antietam  was  lost.  From  this  time  the  fortunes  of  the  Confederacy  waned. 


nttrtam — Sty?  imraaum  nf  tlj?  Nnrtt} 


Sept. 
1862 


But  General  Halleck  had  ordered  him  to  hold  Harper's  Ferry 
to  the  last,  and  Miles  interpreted  this  order  to  mean  that  he 
must  hold  the  town  itself.  He  therefore  failed  to  occupy  the 
heights  around  it  in  sufficient  strength  and  thus  permitted  him 
self  to  be  caught  in  a  trap. 

During  the  day  of  the  14th  the  Confederate  artillery  was 
dragged  up  the  mountain  sides,  and  in  the  afternoon  a  heavy 
fire  was  opened  on  the  doomed  Federal  garrison.  On  that 
day  McClellan  received  word  from  Miles  that  the  latter  could 
hold  out  for  two  days  longer- and  the  commanding  general  sent 
word:  "  Hold  out  to  the  last  extremity.  If  it  is  possible,  re- 
occupy  the  Maryland  Heights  with  your  entire  force.  If  you 
can  do  that  I  will  certainly  be  able  to  relieve  you.  .  .  .  Hold 
out  to  the  last."  McClellan  was  approaching  slowly  and  felt 
confident  he  could  relieve  the  place. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th  the  roar  of  Confederate  artil 
lery  again  resounded  from  hill  to  hill.  From  London  to  Mary 
land  Heights  the  firing  had  begun  and  a  little  later  the  battle- 
flags  of  A.  P.  Hill  rose  on  Bolivar  Heights.  Scarcely  two 
hours  had  the  firing  continued  when  Colonel  Miles  raised  the 
white  flag  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  its  garrison  of  12,500,  with 
vast  military  stores,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Confederates. 
Colonel  Miles  was  struck  by  a  stray  fragment  of  a  Confederate 
shell  which  gave  him  a  mortal  wound.  The  force  of  General 
Franklin,  preparing  to  move  to  the  garrison's  relief,  on  the 
morning  of  the  15th  noted  that  firing  at  the  Ferry  had  ceased 
and  suspected  that  the  garrison  had  surrendered,  as  it  had. 

The  Confederate  Colonel  Douglas,  whose  account  of  the 
surrender  is  both  absorbing  and  authoritative,  thus  describes 
the  surrender  in  "  Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War  ": 

"  Under  instructions  from  General  Jackson,  I  rode  up  the 
pike  and  into  the  enemy's  lines  to  ascertain  the  purpose  of  the 
white  flag.  Near  the  top  of  the  hill  I  met  General  White  and 
staff  and  told  him  my  mission.  He  replied  that  Colonel  Miles 
had  been  mortally  wounded,  that  he  was  in  command  and 


LEE  LOCKS  THE   GATES 

Sharpsburg,  Maryland,  September  17,  1862.  There  were  long  minutes  on  that 
sunny  day  in  the  early  fall  of  1862  when  Robert  E.  Lee,  at  his  headquarters  west  of 
Sharpsburg,  must  have  been  in  almost  entire  ignorance  of  how  the  battle  went. 
Outnumbered  he  knew  his  troops  were;  outfought  he  knew  they  never  would  be. 
Longstreet,  Hood,  D.  H.  Hill,  Evans,  and  D.  R.  Jones  had  turned  back  more  than 
one  charge  in  the  morning;  but,  as  the  day  wore  on,  Lee  perceived  that  the  cen 
ter  must  be  held.  Sharpsburg  was  the  key.  He  had  deceived  McClellan  as  to 
his  numerical  strength  and  he  must  continue  to  do  so.  Lee  had  practically  no 
reserves  at  all.  At  one  time  General  Longstreet  reported  from  the  center  to 
General  Chilton,  Lee's  Chief  of  Staff,  that  Cooke's  North  Carolina  regiment- 
still  keeping  its  colors  at  the  front — had  not  a  cartridge  left.  None  but  veteran 
troops  could  hold  a  line  like  this,  supported  by  only  two  guns  of  Miller's  battery 
of  the  Washington  Artillery.  Of  this  crisis  in  the  battle  General  Longstreet  wrote 
afterward:  "We  were  already  badly  whipped  and  were  holding  our  ground  by  sheer 
force  of  desperation."  Actually  in  line  that  day  on  the  Confederate  side  were  only 
37,000  men,  and  opposed  to  them  were  numbers  that  could  be  footed  up  to  50,000 
more.  At  what  time  in  the  day  General  Lee  must  have  perceived  that  the  invasion 
of  Maryland  must  come  to  an  end  cannot  be  told.  He  had  lost  20,000  of  his  tired, 
footsore  army  by  straggling  on  the  march,  according  to  the  report  of  Longstreet, 
who  adds :  "  Nearly  one-fourth  of  the  troops  who  went  into  the  battle  were  killed  or 
wounded."  At  dark  Lee's  rearward  movement  had  begun. 


ttffrtam  — 


Sept. 
1862 


'IIIIIIIIIIIIIHIII/A.   \\\ 


IV 


\\ 


,X 


desired  to  have  an  interview  with  General  Jackson.  ...  I  con 
ducted  them  to  General  Jackson,  whom  I  found  sitting  on  his 
horse  where  I  had  left  him.  .  .  .  The  contrast  in  appearances 
there  presented  was  striking.  General  White,  riding  a  hand 
some  black  horse,  was  carefully  dressed  and  had  on  untarnished 
gloves,  boots,  and  sword.  His  staff  were  equally  comely  in 
costume.  On  the  other  hand,  General  Jackson  was  the  din 
giest,  worst-dressed  and  worst-mounted  general  that  a  warrior 
who  cared  for  good  looks  and  style  would  wish  to  surrender  to. 

"  General  Jackson  .  .  .  rode  up  to  Bolivar  and  down 
into  Harper's  Ferry.  The  curiosity  in  the  Union  army  to 
see  him  was  so  great  that  the  soldiers  lined  the  sides  of  the 
road.  .  .  .  One  man  had  an  echo  of  response  all  about  him 
when  he  said  aloud :  '  Boys,  he's  not  much  for  looks,  but  if 
we'd  had  him  we  wouldn't  have  been  caught  in  this  trap.' ' 

McClellan  had  failed  to  reach  Harper's  Ferry  in  time  to 
relieve  it  because  he  was  detained  at  South  Mountain  by  a  con 
siderable  portion  of  Lee's  army  under  D.  H.  Hill  and  Long- 
street.  McClellan  had  come  into  possession  of  Lee's  general 
order,  outlining  the  campaign.  Discovering  by  this  order  that 
Lee  had  sent  Jackson  to  attack  Harper's  Ferry  he  made  every 
effort  to  relieve  it. 

The  affair  at  Harper's  Ferry,  as  that  at  South  Mountain, 
was  but  a  prelude  to  the  tremendous  battle  that  was  to  follow 
two  days  later  on  the  banks  of  the  little  stream  called  An- 
tietam  Creek,  in  Maryland.  When  it  was  known  that  Lee  had 
led  his  army  across  the  Potomac  the  people  were  filled  with 
consternation — the  people,  not  only  of  the  immediate  vicinity, 
but  of  Harrisburg,  of  Baltimore,  of  Philadelphia.  Their  fear 
was  intensified  by  the  memory  of  the  Second  Bull  Run  of  a 
few  weeks  earlier,  and  by  the  fact  that  at  this  very  time 
General  Bragg  was  marching  northward  across  Kentucky 
with  a  great  army,  menacing  Louisville  and  Cincinnati. 

As  one  year  before,  the  hopes  of  the  North  had  centered 
in  George  B.  McClellan,  so  it  was  now  with  the  people  of  the 


1 


wm 


:*w  ••  m 


J  '*•  k 


A   REGIMENT  THAT   FOUGHT   AT   SOUTH   MOUNTAIN— THE   THIRTY-FIFTH   NEW   YORK 


Here  sits  Colonel  T.  G.  Morehead,  who 
commanded  the  106th  Pennsylvania, 
of  the  Second  Corps.  At  7.20  A.M. 
the  order  came  to  advance,  and  with 
a  cheer  the  Second  Corps — men  who 
for  over  two  years  had  never  lost  a 
gun  nor  struck  a  color — pressed  for 
ward.  But  again  they  were  halted. 
It  was  almost  an  hour  later  when 
Sedgwick's  division,  with  Sumner  at 
the  head,  crossed  the  Antietam.  Arriv 
ing  nearly  opposite  the  Dunker  church, 
it  swept  out  over  the  cornfields.  On 
it  went,  by  Greene's  right,  through  the 
West  Woods;  here  it  met  the  awful 
counter-stroke  of  Early's  reenforced 
division  and,  stubbornly  resisting,  was 
hurled  back  wjth  frightful  loss. 


Early  in  the  morning  of  September  17, 
1862,  Knap's  battery  (shown  below) 
got  into  the  thick  of  the  action  of  An 
tietam.  General  Mansfield  had  posted 
it  opposite  the  north  end  of  the  WTest 
WToods,  close  to  the  Confederate  line. 
The  guns  opened  fire  at  seven  o'clock. 
Practically  unsupported,  the  battery 
was  twice  charged  upon  during  the 
morning;  but  quickly  substituting 
canister  for  shot  and  shell,  the  men 
held  their  ground  and  stemmed  the 
Confederate  advance.  Near  this  spot 
General  Mansfield  was  mortally 
wounded  while  deploying  his  troops. 
About  noon  a  section  of  Knap's  bat 
tery  was  detached  to  the  assistance  of 
General  Greene,  in  the  East  W:oods. 


COLONEL   T.    G.    MOREHEAD 

A  HERO  OF  SEDGWICK'S  CHARGE 


PATRIOT    PUB.  CO. 


KNAP'S   BATTERY,   JUST  AFTER  THE   BLOODY   WORK  AT  ANTIETAM 


nttrtam 


3lnua0um 


/ 


East.  They  were  ready  to  forget  his  failure  to  capture  Rich 
mond  in  the  early  summer  and  to  contrast  his  partial  successes 
on  the  Peninsula  with  the  drastic  defeat  of  his  successor  at 
the  Second  Bull  Run. 

When  McClellan,  therefore,  passed  through  Maryland  to 
the  scene  of  the  coming  battle,  many  of  the  people  received  him 
with  joy  and  enthusiasm.  At  Frederick  City,  he  tells  us  in 
his  "  Own  Story,"  he  was  "  nearly  overwhelmed  and  pulled  to 
pieces,"  and  the  people  invited  him  into  their  houses  and  gave 
him  every  demonstration  of  confidence. 

The  first  encounter,  a  double  one,  took  place  on  September 
14th,  at  two  passes  of  South  Mountain,  a  continuation  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  north  of  the  Potomac.  General  Franklin,  who 
had  been  sent  to  relieve  Harper's  Ferry,  met  a  Confederate 
force  at  Crampton's  Gap  and  defeated  it  in  a  sharp  battle  of 
three  hours'  duration.  Meanwhile,  the  First  and  Ninth  Army 
Corps,  under  Burnside,  encountered  a  stronger  force  at  Turner's 
Gap  seven  miles  farther  up.  The  battle  here  continued  many 
hours,  till  late  in  the  night,  and  the  Union  troops  were  vic 
torious.  General  Reno  was  killed.  Lee's  loss  was  nearly 
twenty-seven  hundred,  of  whom  eight  hundred  were  prisoners. 
The  Federals  lost  twenty-one  hundred  men  and  they  failed  to 
save  Harper's  Ferry. 

Lee  now  placed  Longstreet  and  D.  H.  Hill  in  a  strong 
position  near  Keedysville,  but  learning  that  McClellan  was 
advancing  rapidly,  the  Confederate  leader  decided  to  retire  to 
Sharpsburg,  where  he  could  be  more  easily  joined  by  Jackson. 

September  16th  was  a  day  of  intense  anxiety  and  unrest 
in  the  valley  of  the  Antietam.  The  people  who  had  lived  in 
the  farmhouses  that  dotted  the  golden  autumn  landscape  in 
this  hitherto  quiet  community  had  now  abandoned  their  homes 
and  given  place  to  the  armed  forces.  It  wras  a  day  of  marshal 
ing  and  maneuvering  of  the  gathering  thousands,  preparatory 
to  the  mighty  conflict  that  was  clearly  seen  to  be  inevitable. 
Lee  had  taken  a  strong  position  on  the  west  bank  of  Antietam 


THE   FIRST  TO  FALL 


This  photograph  was  taken  back  of  the  rail  fence  on  the  Hagerstown  pike,  where  "Stonewall"  Jackson's  men  attempted  to  rally  in 
the  face  of  Hooker's  ferocious  charge  that  opened  the  bloodiest  day  of  the  Civil  War — September  17,  1862.  Hooker,  advancing  to 
seize  high  ground  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  mile  distant,  had  not  gone  far  before  the  glint  of  the  rising  sun  disclosed  the  bayonet- 
points  of  a  large  Confederate  force  standing  in  a  cornfield  in  his  immediate  front.  This  was  a  part  of  Jackson's  Corps  which  had 
arrived  during  the  morning  of  the  16th  from  the  capture  of  Harper's  Ferry  and  had  been  posted  in  this  position  to  surprise  Hooker 
in  his  advance.  The  outcome  was  a  terrible  surprise  to  the  Confederates.  All  of  Hooker's  batteries  hurried  into  action  and  opened 
with  canister  on  the  cornfield.  The  Confederates  stood  bravely  up  against  this  fire,  and  as  Hooker's  men  advanced  they  made  a  de 
termined  resistance.  Back  and  still  farther  back  were  Jackson's  men  driven  across  the  open  field,  every  stalk  of  corn  in  which  was 
cut  down  by  the  battle  as  closely  as  a  knife  could  have  done  it.  On  the  ground  the  slain  lay  in  rows  precisely  as  they  had  stood  in 
ranks.  From  the  cornfield  into  a  small  patch  of  woods  (the  West  Woods)  the  Confederates  were  driven,  leaving  the  sad  result  of  the 
surprise  behind  them.  As  the  edge  of  the  woods  was  approached  by  Hooker's  men  the  resistance  became  stronger  and  more  stub 
born.  Nearly  all  the  units  of  two  of  Jackson's  divisions  were  now  in  action,  and  cavalry  and  artillery  were  aiding  them.  "The  two 
lines,"  says  General  Palfrey,  "almost  tore  each  other  to  pieces."  General  Starke  and  Colonel  Douglas  on  the  Confederate  side  were 
killed.  More  than  half  of  Lawton's  and  Hays'  brigades  were  either  killed  or  wounded.  On  the  Federal  side  General  Ricketts  lost  a 
third  of  his  division.  The  energy  of  both  forces  was  entirely  spent  and  reinforcements  were  necessary  before  the  battle  could 
be  continued.  Many  of  Jackson's  men  wore  trousers  and  caps  of  Federal  blue,  as  did  most  of  the  troops  which  had  been 
engaged  with  Jackson  in  the  affair  at  Harper's  Ferry.  A.  P.  Hill's  men,  arriving  from  Harper's  Ferry  that  same  afternoon,  were 
dressed  in  new  Federal  uniforms — a  part  of  their  booty — and  at  first  were  mistaken  for  Federals  by  the  friends  who  were  anxiously 
awaiting  them. 


nitrtam 


3lmraat0n  nf 


Sept. 
1862 


Creek  a  few  miles  from  where  it  flows  into  the  Potomac.  He 
made  a  display  of  force,  exposing  his  men  to  the  fire  of  the 
Federal  artillery,  his  object  being  to  await  the  coming  of 
Jackson's  command  from  Harper's  Ferry.  It  is  true  that 
Jackson  himself  had  arrived,  but  his  men  were  weary  with 
marching  and,  moreover,  a  large  portion  of  his  troops  under 
A.  P.  Hill  and  McLaws  had  not  yet  reached  the  field. 

McClellan  spent  the  day  arranging  his  corps  and  giving 
directions  for  planting  batteries.  With  a  few  companions  he 
rode  along  the  whole  front,  frequently  drawing  the  fire  of  the 
Confederate  batteries  and  thus  revealing  their  location.  The 
right  wing  of  his  army,  the  corps  of  Generals  Hooker,  Mans 
field,  and  Sumner,  lay  to  the  north,  near  the  village  of  Keedys- 
ville.  General  Porter  with  two  divisions  of  the  Fifth  Corps 
occupied  the  center  and  Burnside  was  on  the  left  of  the  Union 
lines.  Back  of  McClellan's  lines  was  a  ridge  on  which  was  a 
signal  station  commanding  a  view  of  the  entire  field.  Late  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  16th,  Hooker  crossing  the  Antietam,  ad 
vanced  against  Hood's  division  on  the  Confederate  left.  For 
several  hours  there  was  heavy  skirmishing,  which  closed  with 
the  coming  of  darkness. 

The  two  great  armies  now  lay  facing  each  other  in  a  grand 
double  line  three  miles  in  length.  At  one  point  (the  Union 
right  and  the  Confederate  left)  they  were  so  near  together  that 
the  pickets  could  hear  each  other's  tread.  It  required  no 
prophet  to  foretell  what  would  happen  on  the  morrow. 

Beautiful  and  clear  the  morning  broke  over  the  Mary 
land  hills  on  the  fateful  17th  of  September,  1862.  The  sun 
light  had  not  yet  crowned  the  hilltops  when  artillery  fire  an 
nounced  the  opening  of  the  battle.  Hooker's  infantry  soon 
entered  into  the  action  and  encountered  the  Confederates  in  an 
open  field,  from  which  the  latter  were  presently  pressed  back 
across  the  Hagerstown  pike  to  a  line  of  woods  where  they  made' 
a  determined  stand.  Hooker  then  called  on  General  Mansfield 
to  come  to  his  aid,  and  the  latter  quickly  did  so,  for  he  had  led 


THE   THRICE-FOUGHT  GROUND 


The  field  beyond  the  leveled  fence  is  covered  with  both  Federal 
and  Confederate  dead.  Over  this  open  space  swept  Sedgwick's 
division  of  Sumner's  Second  Corps,  after  passing  through  the  East 
and  entering  the  West  Woods.  This  is  near  where  the  Confederate 
General  Ewell's  division,  reenforced  by  McLaws  and  Walker, 
fell  upon  Sedgwick's  left  flank  and  rear.  Nearly  two  thousand 
Federal  soldiers  were  struck  down,  the  division  losing  during  the 
day  more  than  forty  per  cent,  of  its  entire  number.  One  regi 
ment  lost  sixty  per  cent. — the 
highest  regimental  loss  sus 
tained.  Later  the  right  of  the 
Confederate  line  crossed  the 
turnpike  at  the  Bunker  church 
(about  half  a  mile  to  the  left 
of  the  picture)  and  made  two 
assaults  upon  Greene,  but  they 
were  repulsed  with  great 
slaughter.  General  D.  R. 
Jones,  of  Jackson's  division, 
had  been  wounded.  The  brave 
Starke  who  succeeded  him  was 
killed;  and  Lawton,  who  fol 
lowed  Starke,  had  fallen 
wounded. 


A  flaming  mansion  was  the  guidon  for  the  extreme  left  of  Greene's 
division  when  (early  in  the  morning)  he  had  moved  forward  along 
the  ridge  leading  to  the  East  Woods.  This  dwelling  belonged  to 
a  planter  by  the  name  of  Mumma.  It  stood  in  the  very  center 
of  the  Federal  advance,  and  also  at  the  extreme  left  of  D.  H.  Hill's 
line.  The  house  had  been  fired  by  the  Confederates,  who  feared 
that  its  thick  walls  might  become  a  vantage-point  for  the  Federal 
infantry.  It  burned  throughout  the  battle,  the  flames  subsiding 

only  in  the  afternoon.  Before 
it,  just  across  the  road,  a  bat 
tery  of  the  First  Rhode  Island 
Light  Artillery  had  placed  its 
guns.  Twice  were  they  charged, 
but  each  time  they  were  re 
pulsed.  From  Mumma's  house 
it  was  less  than  half  a  mile 
across  the  open  field  to  the 
Dunker  church.  The  fence- 
rails  in  the  upper  picture  were 
those  of  the  field  enclosing 
Mumma's  land,  and  the  heroic 
dead  pictured  lying  there  were 
in  full  sight  from  the  burning 


RUIN  OF  MUMMA'S  HOUSE,   ANTIETAM 


nttrtam 


Immmnn  0f 


his  corps  across  the  Antietam  after  dark  the  night  before. 
Mansfield,  however,  a  gallant  and  honored  veteran,  fell  mor 
tally  wounded  while  deploying  his  troops,  and  General  Al- 
pheus  S.  Williams,  at  the  head  of  his  first  division,  succeeded 
to  the  command. 

There  was  a  wood  west  of  the  Sharpsburg  and  Hagers- 
town  turnpike  wrhich,  with  its  outcropping  ledges  of  rock, 
formed  an  excellent  retreat  for  the  Confederates  and  from  this 
they  pushed  their  columns  into  the  open  fields,  chiefly  of  corn, 
to  meet  the  Union  attacks.  For  about  two  hours  the  battle 
raged  at  this  point,  the  lines  swaying  to  and  fro,  with  fearful 
slaughter  on  both  sides.  At  length,  General  Greene,  who  com 
manded  a  division  of  the  fallen  Mansfield's  corps,  gained  pos 
session  of  part  of  the  coveted  forest,  near  a  little  white  church, 
known  as  the  Dunker's  Chapel.  This  was  on  high  ground  and 
was  the  key  to  the  Confederate  left  wing.  But  Greene's 
troops  were  exposed  to  a  galling  fire  from  D.  H.  Hill's  divi 
sion  and  he  called  for  reen  for  cements. 

General  Sumner  then  sent  Sedgwick's  division  across  the 
stream  and  accompanied  the  troops  to  the  aid  of  their  hard- 
pressed  comrades.  And  the  experience  of  this  body  of  the 
gallant  Second  Corps  during  the  next  hour  wras  probably  the 
most  thrilling  episode  of  the  whole  day's  battle.  Sedgwick's 
troops  advanced  straight  toward  the  conflict.  They  found 
Hooker  wounded  and  his  and  Williams'  troops  quite  ex 
hausted.  A  sharp  artillery  fire  was  turned  on  Sedgwick 
before  he  reached  the  woods  west  of  the  Hagerstown  pike, 
but  once  in  the  shelter  of  the  thick  trees  he  passed  in  safety 
to  the  western  edge.  Here  the  division  found  itself  in  an  am 
bush.  Heavy  Confederate  reenforcements — ten  brigades,  in 
fact — Walker's  men,  and  McLaws',  having  arrived  from  Har 
per's  Ferry — were  hastening  up,  and  they  not  only  blocked  the 
front,  but  worked  around  to  the  rear  of  Sedgwick's  isolated 
brigades.  Sedgwick  was  wounded  in  the  awful  slaughter  that 
followed,  but  he  and  Sumner  finally  extricated  their  men  with 


THE  HARVEST  OF  "BLOODY  LANE" 


Here,  at  "  Bloody  Lane "  in  the  sunken  road,  was  delivered  the 
most  telling  blow  of  which  the  Federals  could  boast  in  the  day's 
fighting  at  Antietam,  September  17,  1862.  In  the  lower  picture  we 
see  the  officers  whose  work  first  began  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle  into 
a  decisive  advantage  which  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  every 
reason  to  expect  would  be  gained  by  its  superior  numbers.  On 
the  Federal  right  Jackson,  with 
a  bare  four  thousand  men,  had 
taken  the  fight  out  of  Hooker's 
eighteen  thousand  in  the  morning, 
giving  ground  at  last  to  Sumner's 
fresh  troops.  On  the  Federal 
left,  Burnside  (at  the  lower  bridge) 
failed  to  advance  against  Long- 
street's  Corps,  two-thirds  of  which 
had  been  detached  for  service  else 
where.  It  was  at  the  center  that 
the  forces  of  French  and  Rich 
ardson,  skilfully  fought  by  their 
leaders,  broke  through  the  Con 
federate  lines  and,  sweeping  be 
yond  the  sunken  road,  seized  the 


very  citadel  of  the  center.     Meagher's  Irish  Brigade  had  fought 
its  way  to  a  crest  from  which  a  plunging  fire  could  be  poured 
upon  the  Confederates  in  the  sunken  road.     Meagher's  ammuni 
tion  was  exhausted,  and  Caldwell  threw  his  force  into  the  posi 
tion  and  continued  the  terrible  combat.    When  the  Confederates 
executed  their  flanking  movement  to  the   left,  Colonel  D.  R. 
Cross,  of  the  Fifth  New  Hamp 
shire,  seized  a  position  which  ex 
posed  Hill's  men  to  an  enfilading 
fire.    (In  the  picture  General  Cald 
well  is  seen  standing  to  the  left 
of  the  tree,  and  Colonel  Cross  leans 
on  his  sword  at  the  extreme  right. 
Between  them  stands  Lir-'*   C  ] 
onel    George    W.    Scott 
Sixty-first    New    York 
while  at  the  left   before 
stands  Captain  George  V  .  . 
A.C.S.     General   Caldwell's  hand 
rests  on  the  shoulder   of  Captain 
George  H.  Caldwell;  to  his  left  is 
seated  Lieutenant  C.  A.  Alvord.) 


BRIGADIER -GENERAL  CALDWELL  AND  STAFF 


nttrtam- 


3Jmtam0u  of  tljr 


*     * 


a  loss  of  two  thousand,  over  three  hundred  left  dead  on  the 
ghastly  field.  Franklin  now  sent  forward  some  fresh  troops 
and  after  obstinately  fighting,  the  Federals  finally  held  a  corn 
field  and  most  of  the  coveted  wood  over  which  the  conflict  had 
raged  till  the  ground  was  saturated  with  blood. 

Before  the  close  of  this  bloody  conflict  on  the  Union  right 
another,  almost  if  not  quite  as  deadly,  was  in  progress  near  the 
center.  General  French,  soon  joined  by  General  Richardson, 
both  of  Sumner's  corps,  crossed  the  stream  and  made  a  des 
perate  assault  against  the  Southerners  of  D.  H.  Hill's  divis 
ion,  stationed  to  the  south  of  where  the  battle  had  previously 
raged — French  on  a  line  of  heights  strongly  held  by  the  Con 
federates,  Richardson  in  the  direction  of  a  sunken  road,  since 
known  as  "  Bloody  Lane."  The  fighting  here  was  of  a  most 
desperate  character  and  continued  nearly  four  hours.  French 
captured  a  few  flags,  several  hundred  prisoners,  and  gained 
some  ground,  but  he  failed  to  carry  the  heights.  Richardson 
was  mortally  wounded  while  leading  a  charge  and  was  suc 
ceeded  by  General  Hancock;  but  his  men  finally  captured 
Bloody  Lane  with  the  three  hundred  living  men  who  had  re 
mained  to  defend  it.  The  final  Federal  charge  at  this  point 
was  made  by  Colonel  Barlow,  who  displayed  the  utmost  brav 
ery  and  self-possession  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  where  he 
won  a  brigadier-generalship.  He  was  wounded,  and  later 
carried  off  the  field.  The  Confederates  had  fought  desperately 
to  hold  their  position  in  Bloody  Lane,  and  when  it  was  captured 
it  was  filled  with  dead  bodies.  It  was  now  about  one  o'clock 
and  the  infantry  firing  ceased  for  the  day  on  the  Union  right, 
and  center. 

Let  us  now  look  on  the  other  part  of  the  field.  Burnside 
held  the  Federal  left  wing  against  Lee's  right,  and  he  remained 
inactive  for  some  hours  after  the  battle  had  begun  at  the  other 
end  of  the  line.  In  front  of  Burnside  was  a  triple-arched  stone 
bridge  across  the  Antietam,  since  known  as  "  Burnside's 
Bridge."  Opposite  this  bridge,  on  the  slope  which  extends  to  a 


SHERRICK'S  HOUSE 

In  three  distinct  localities  the  battle  waxed  fierce 
from  dawn  to  dusk  on  that  terrible  day  at  An- 
tietam,  September  17,  1862.  First  at  the  Federal 
right  around  the  Dunker  church;  then  at  the 
sunken  road,  where  the  centers  of  both  armies 
spent  themselves  in  sanguinary  struggle;  lastly, 
late  in  the  day,  the  struggle  was  renewed  and 
ceased  on  the  Sharpsburg  road.  When  Burnside 
finally  got  his  troops  in  motion,  Sturgis'  division 
of  the  Ninth  Corps  was  first  to  cross  the  creek ;  his 
men  advanced  through  an  open  ravine  under  a 
withering  fire  till  they  gained  the  opposite  crest 
and  held  it  until  reenforced  by  Wilcox.  To  their 
right  ran  the  Sharpsburg  road,  and  an  advance  was 
begun  in  the  direction  of  the  Sherrick  house. 


The  fighting  along  the  Sharpsburg  road 
might  have  resulted  in  a  Confederate  dis 
aster  had  it  not  been  for  the  timely  arrival 
of  the  troops  of  General  A.  P.  Hill.  His 
six  brigades  of  Confederate  veterans  had 
been  the  last  to  leave  Harper's  Ferry,  re 
maining  behind  Jackson's  main  body  in 
order  to  attend  to  the  details  of  the  sur 
render.  Just  as  the  Federal  Ninth  Corps 
was  in  the  height  of  its  advance,  a  cloud 
of  dust  on  Harper's  Ferry  road  cheered  the 
Confederates  to  redoubled  effort.  Out  of 
the  dust  the  brigades  of  Hill  debouched 
upon  the  field.  Their  fighting  blood  seemed 
to  have  but  mounted  more  strongly  dur 
ing  their  march  of  eighteen  miles.  With 
out  waiting  for  orders,  Hill  threw  his 
men  into  the  fight  and  the  progress  of  the 


GENERAL  A.   P.   HILL,   C.  S.  A. 


Ninth  Corps  was  stopped.  Lee  had  counted 
on  the  arrival  of  Hill  in  time  to  prevent 
any  successful  attempt  upon  the  Confeder 
ate  right  held  by  Longstreet's  Corps,  two- 
thirds  of  which  had  been  detached  in  the 
thick  of  the  fighting  of  the  morning,  when 
Lee's  left  and  center  suffered  so  severely. 
Burnside's  delay  at  the  bridge  could  not 
have  been  more  fortunate  for  Lee  if  he  had 
fixed  its  duration  himself.  Had  the  Con 
federate  left  been  attacked  at  the  time  ap 
pointed,  the  outcome  of  Antietam  could 
scarcely  have  been  other  than  a  decisive 
victory  for  the  Federals.  Even  at  the  time 
when  Burnside's  tardy  advance  began,  it 
must  have  prevailed  against  the  weakened 
and  wearied  Confederates  had  not  the  fresh 
troops  of  A.  P.  Hill  averted  the  disaster. 


AFTER  THE  ADVANCE 

In  the  advance  along  the  Sharpsburg  road  near 
the  Sherrick  house  the  79th  New  York  "High 
landers"  deployed  as  skirmishers.  From  or 
chards  and  cornfields  and  from  behind  fences  and 
haystacks  the  Confederate  sharpshooters  opened 
upon  them,  but  they  swept  on,  driving  in  a  part 
of  Jones'  division  and  capturing  a  battery  just 
before  A.  P.  Hill's  troops  arrived.  WTith  these 
reinforcements  the  Confederates  drove  back  the 
brave  Highlanders  from  the  suburbs  of  Sharps 
burg,  which  they  had  reached.  Stubborn  Scotch 
blood  would  permit  only  a  reluctant  retreat. 
Sharp  fighting  occurred  around  the  Sherrick 
house  with  results  seen  in  the  lower  picture. 
Night  closed  the  battle,  both  sides  exhausted. 


immaum  0f 


<*• 


Sept. 
1862 


V 


high  ridge,  were  Confederate  breastworks  and  rifle-pits,  which 
commanded  the  bridge  with  a  direct  or  enfilading  fire.  While 
the  Federal  right  was  fighting  on  the  morning  of  the  17th,  Mc- 
Clellan  sent  an  order  to  Burnside  to  advance  on  the  bridge, 
to  take  possession  of  it  and  cross  the  stream  by  means  of  it. 
It  must  have  been  about  ten  o'clock  when  Burnside  received 
the  order  as  McClellan  was  more  than  two  miles  away. 

Burnside's  chief  officer  at  this  moment  was  General 
Jacob  D.  Cox  (afterward  Governor  of  Ohio),  who  had  suc 
ceeded  General  Reno,  killed  at  South  Mountain.  On  Cox  fell 
the  task  of  capturing  the  stone  bridge.  The  defense  of 
the  bridge  was  in  the  hands  of  General  Robert  Toombs,  a 
former  United  States  senator  and  a  member  of  Jefferson 
Davis'  Cabinet.  Perhaps  the  most  notable  single  event  in  the 
life  of  General  Toombs  was  his  holding  of  the  Burnside 
Bridge  at  Antietam  for  three  hours  against  the  assaults  of  the 
Federal  troops.  The  Confederates  had  been  weakened  at  this 
point  by  the  sending  of  Walker  to  the  support  of  Jackson, 
where,  as  we  have  noticed,  he  took  part  in  the  deadly  assault 
upon  Sedg wick's  division.  Toombs,  therefore,  with  his  one 
brigade  had  a  heavy  task  before  him  in  defending  the  bridge 
with  his  small  force,  notwithstanding  his  advantage  of  position. 

McClellan  sent  several  urgent  orders  to  advance  at  all 
hazards.  Burnside  forwarded  these  to  Cox,  and  in  the  fear 
that  the  latter  would  be  unable  to  carry  the  bridge  by  a  direct 
front  attack,  he  sent  Rodman  with  a  division  to  cross  the  creek 
by  a  ford  some  distance  below.  This  was  accomplished  after 
much  difficulty.  Meanwhile,  in  rapid  succession,  one  assault 
after  another  was  made  upon  the  bridge  and,  about  one  o'clock, 
it  was  carried,  at  the  cost  of  five  hundred  men.  The  Confed 
erates  fell  back.  A  lull  in  the  fighting  along  the  whole  line 
of  battle  now  ensued. 

Burnside,  however,  received  another  order  from  Mc 
Clellan  to  push  on  up  the  heights  and  to  the  village  of  Sharps- 
burg.  The  great  importance  of  this  move,  if  successful,  was 


s 


-  -r»- 


COPYRIGHT,   1911,    PATRIOT  PJB.   CO. 

THE  SEVENTEENTH  NEW  YORK  ARTILLERY  DRILLING  BEFORE  THE  CAPITAL 

In  the  background  rises  the  dome  of  the  Capitol  which  this  regiment  remained  to  defend  until  it  was  ordered  to  Petersburg,  in  1864. 
It  appears  in  parade  formation.  The  battery  commander  leads  it,  mounted.  The  battery  consists  of  six  pieces,  divided  into  three 
platoons  of  two  guns  each.  In  front  of  each  platoon  is  the  platoon  commander,  mounted.  Each  piece,  with  its  limber  and  caisson,  forms 
a  section;  the  chief  of  section  is  mounted,  to  the  right  and  a  little  to  the  rear  of  each  piece.  The  cannoneers  are  mounted  on 
the  limbers  and  caissons  in  the  rear.  To  the  left  waves  the  notched  guidon  used  by  both  the  cavalry  and  light  artillery. 


OT   PUB.   CO. 


A  LIGHT  BATTERY  AT  FORT  WHIPPLE,   DEFENSES  OF  WASHINGTON 

This  photograph  shows  the  flat  nature  of  the  open  country  about  Washington.  There  were  no  natural  fortifications  around  the  city. 
Artificial  works  were  necessary  throughout.  Fort  Whipple  lay  to  the  south  of  Fort  Corcoran,  one  of  the  three  earliest  forts  con 
structed.  It  was  built  later,  during  one  of  the  recurrent  panics  at  the  rumor  that  the  Confederates  were  about  to  descend  upon  Wash 
ington.  This  battery  of  six  guns,  the  one  on  the  right  hand,  pointing  directly  out  of  the  picture,  looks  quite  formidable.  One  can 
imagine  the  burst  of  fire  from  the  underbrush  which  surrounds  it,  should  it  open  upon  the  foe.  At  present  it  is  simply  drilling. 


nttrtam 


Slmmmnn  nf 


that  it  would  cut  Lee  out  from  his  line  of  retreat  by  way  of 
Shepherdstown. 

After  replenishing  the  ammunition  and  adding  some  fresh 
troops,  Cox  advanced  at  three  o'clock  with  the  utmost  gal 
lantry  toward  Sharpsburg.  The  Confederates  disputed  the 
ground  with  great  bravery.  But  Cox  swept  all  before  him  and 
was  at  the  edge  of  the  village  when  he  was  suddenly  confronted 
by  lines  in  blue  uniforms  who  instantly  opened  fire.  The  Fed 
erals  were  astonished  to  see  the  blue-clad  battalions  before 
them.  They  must  be  Union  soldiers;  but  how  did  they  get 
there?  The  matter  was  soon  explained.  They  were  A.  P. 
Hill's  division  of  Lee's  army  which  had  just  arrived  from 
Harper's  Ferry,  and  they  had  dressed  themselves  in  the  uni 
forms  that  they  had  taken  from  the  Federal  stores. 

Hill  had  come  just  in  time  to  save  Lee's  headquarters 
from  capture.  He  checked  Cox's  advance,  threw  a  portion  of 
the  troops  into  great  confusion,  and  steadily  pressed  them  back 
toward  the  Antietam.  In  this,  the  end  of  the  battle,  General 
Rodman  fell  mortally  wounded.  Cox  retired  in  good  order 
and  Sharpsburg  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Confederates. 

Thus,  with  the  approach  of  nightfall,  closed  the  memor 
able  battle  of  Antietam.  For  fourteen  long  hours  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  men,  with  five  hundred  pieces  of  artil 
lery,  had  engaged  in  titanic  combat.  As  the  pall  of  battle 
smoke  rose  and  cleared  away,  the  scene  presented  was  one  to 
make  the  stoutest  heart  shudder.  There  lay  upon  the  ground, 
scattered  for  three  miles  over  the  valleys  and  the  hills  or  in  the 
improvised  hospitals,  more  than  twenty  thousand  men.  Horace 
Greeley  was  probably  right  in  pronouncing  this  the  bloodiest 
day  in  American  history. 

Although  tactically  it  was  a  drawn  battle,  Antietam  was 
decisively  in  favor  of  the  North  inasmuch  as  it  ended  the  first 
Confederate  attempt  at  a  Northern  invasion.  General  Lee 
realized  that  his  ulterior  plans  had  been  thwarted  by  this  en 
gagement  and  after  a  consultation  with  his  corps  commanders 


"STAND  TO  HORSE!"— AN  AMERICAN  VOLUNTEER  CAVALRYMAN,  OCTOBER,  1862 

"He's  not  a  regular — but  he's  'smart.'"  This  tribute  to  the  soldierly  bearing  of  the  trooper  above  was 
bestowed,  forty-nine  years  after  the  taking  of  the  picture,  by  an  officer  of  the  U.  S.  cavalry,  himself  a  Civil 
War  veteran.  The  recipient  of  such  high  praise  is  seen  as  he  "stood  to  horse"  a  month  after  the  battle 
of  Antietam.  The  war  was  only  in  its  second  year,  but  his  drill  is  quite  according  to  army  regulations — 
hand  to  bridle,  six  inches  from  the  bit.  His  steady  glance  as  he  peers  from  beneath  his  hat  into  the  sun 
light  tells  its  own  story.  Days  and  nights  in  the  saddle  without  food  or  sleep,  sometimes  riding  along  the 
60-mile  picket-line  in  front  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  sometimes  faced  by  sudden  encounters  with  the 
Southern  raiders,  have  all  taught  him  the  needed  confidence  in  himself,  his  horse,  and  his  equipment. 


/^^^    II 

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he  determined  to  withdraw  from  Maryland.  On  the  night  of 
the  18th  the  retreat  began  and  early  the  next  morning  the 
Confederate  army  had  all  safely  recrossed  the  Potomac. 

The  great  mistake  of  the  Maryland  campaign  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  Confederate  forces,  thought  General  Long- 
street,  was  the  division  of  Lee's  army,  and  he  believed  that  if 
Lee  had  kept  his  forces  together  he  would  not  have  been  forced 
to  abandon  the  campaign.  At  Antietam,  he  had  less  than 
forty  thousand  men,  who  were  in  poor  condition  for  battle 
while  McClellan  had  about  eighty-seven  thousand,  most  of 
whom  were  fresh  and  strong,  though  not  more  than  sixty 
thousand  were  in  action. 

The  moral  effect  of  the  battle  of  Antietam  was  incalcul 
ably  great.  It  aroused  the  confidence  of  the  Northern  people. 
It  emboldened  President  Lincoln  to  issue  five  days  after  its 
close  the  proclamation  freeing  the  slaves  in  the  seceded  states. 
He  had  written  the  proclamation  long  before,  but  it  had  lain 
inactive  in  his  desk  at  Washington.  All  through  the  struggles 
of  the  summer  of  1862  he  had  looked  forward  to  the  time  when 
he  could  announce  his  decision  to  the  people.  But  he  could  not 
do  it  then.  With  the  doubtful  success  of  Federal  arms,  to 
make  such  a  bold  step  would  have  been  a  mockery  and  would 
have  defeated  the  very  end  he  sought. 

The  South  had  now  struck  its  first  desperate  blow  at  the 
gateways  to  the  North.  By  daring,  almost  unparalleled  in 
warfare,  it  had  swung  its  courageous  army  into  a  strategical 
position  where  with  the  stroke  of  fortune  it  might  have  ham 
mered  down  the  defenses  of  the  National  capital  on  the  south 
and  then  sweep  on  a  march  of  invasion  into  the  North.  The 
Northern  soldiers  had  parried  the  blow.  They  had  saved  them 
selves  from  disaster  and  had  held  back  the  tide  of  the  Con 
federacy  as  it  beat  against  the  Mason  and  Dixon  line,  forcing 
it  back  into  the  State  of  Virginia  where  the  two  mighty  fight 
ing  bodies  were  soon  to  meet  again  in  a  desperate  struggle  for 
the  right-of-way  at  Fredericksburg. 


THE   MEDIATOR 

President  Lincoln's  Visit  to  the  Camps  at  Antietam,  October  8,  1862.  Yearning  for  the  speedy  termination  of  the  war,  Lincoln  came  to 
view  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  as  he  had  done  at  Harrison's  Landing.  Puzzled  to  understand  how  Lee  could  have  circumvented  a 
superior  force  on  the  Peninsula,  he  was  now  anxious  to  learn  why  a  crushing  blow  had  not  been  struck.  Lincoln  (after  Gettysburg) 
expressed  the  same  thought:  "Our  army  held  the  war  in  the  hollow  of  their  hand  and  they  would  not  close  it!"  On  Lincoln's  right 
stands  Allan  Pinkerton,  the  famous  detective  and  organizer  of  the  Secret  Service  of  the  army.  At  the  President's  left  is  General 
John  A.  McClernand,  soon  to  be  entrusted  by  Lincoln  with  reorganizing  military  operations  in  the  West. 


Y 


STONE'S  RIVER,  OR  MURFREESBORO 

As  it  is,  the  battle  of  Stone's  River  seems  less  clearly  a  Federal 
victory  than  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  The  latter  decided  the  fall  of  Corinth; 
the  former  did  not  decide  the  fall  of  Chattanooga.  Offensively  it  was  a 
drawn  battle,  as  looked  at  from  either  side.  As  a  defensive  battle,  how 
ever,  it  was  clearly  a  Union  victory.  —  John  Fiske  in  "The  Mississippi 
Valley  in  the  Civil  War." 


1 


HE  battle  of  Corinth  developed  a  man  —  William  S.  Rose- 
JL  crans  —  whose  singular  skill  in  planning  the  battle,  and 
whose  dauntless  courage  in  riding  between  the  firing-lines  at 
the  opportune  moment,  drew  the  country's  attention  almost 
as  fully  as  Grant  had  done  at  Fort  Donelson.  And  at  this 
particular  moment  the  West  needed,  or  thought  it  needed,  a 
man.  The  autumn  months  of  1862  had  been  spent  by  Generals 
Bragg  and  Buell  in  an  exciting  race  across  Kentucky,  each  at 
the  head  of  a  great  army.  Buell  had  saved  Louisville  from  the 
legions  of  Bragg,  and  he  had  driven  the  Confederate  Army 
of  the  Mississippi  from  the  State;  but  he  had  not  prevented 
his  opponent  from  carrying  away  a  vast  amount  of  plunder, 
nor  had  he  won  decisive  results  at  the  battle  of  Perryville, 
which  took  place  October  8,  1862,  four  days  after  the  battle 
of  Corinth.  Thereupon  the  Federal  authorities  decided  to 
relieve  Buell  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  and  to  give  it  to 
General  Rosecrans. 

On  October  30,  1862,  Rosecrans  assumed  command  at 
Nashville  of  this  force,  which  was  now  designated  as  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland.  Bragg  had  concentrated  his  army  at 
Murfreesboro,  in  central  Tennessee,  about  thirty  miles  south 
east  of  Nashville  and  a  mile  east  of  a  little  tributary  of  the 
Cumberland  River  called  Stone's  River.  Here  occurred,  two 
months  later,  the  bloodiest  single  day's  battle  in  the  West, 


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a  conflict  imminent  as  soon  as  the  news  came   (on  December 
26th)  that  the  Federals  were  advancing  from  Nashville. 

General  Bragg  did  not  lose  a  moment  in  marshaling  his 
army  into  well-drawn  battle-lines.  His  army  was  in  two  corps 
with  a  cavalry  division  under  General  Wheeler,  Forrest  and 
Morgan  being  on  detached  service.  The  left  wing,  under  Gen 
eral  Hardee,  and  the  center,  under  Polk,  were  sent  across 
Stone's  River,  the  right  wing,  a  division  under  John  C.  Breck- 
inridge,  remaining  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  stream  to  guard 
the  town.  The  line  was  three  miles  in  length,  and  on  Decem 
ber  30th  the  Federal  host  that  had  come  from  Nashville  stood 
opposite,  in  a  parallel  line.  It  was  also  in  three  sections.  The 
left  wing,  opposite  Breckinridge,  was  commanded  by  Thomas 
L.  Crittenden,  whose  brother  was  a  commander  in  the  Confed 
eracy.  They  were  sons  of  the  famous  United  States  senator 
from  Kentucky,  John  J.  Crittenden.  The  Federal  center, 
opposite  Polk,  was  commanded  by  George  H.  Thomas,  and  the 
right  wing,  opposing  the  Confederate  left,  was  led  by  Alexan 
der  McD.  McCook,  one  of  the  well-known  "  Fighting  Mc- 
Cook  "  brothers.  The  effective  Federal  force  was  about  forty- 
three  thousand  men;  the  Confederate  army  numbered  about 
thirty-eight  thousand.  That  night  they  bivouacked  within 
musket  range  of  each  other  and  the  camp-fires  of  each  were 
clearly  seen  by  the  other  as  they  shone  through  the  cedar 
groves  that  interposed.  Thus  lay  the  two  great  armies,  ready 
to  spring  upon  each  other  in  deadly  combat  with  the  coming 
of  the  morning. 

Rosecrans  had  permitted  McCook  to  thin  out  his  lines 
over  too  much  space,  while  on  that  very  part  of  the  field  Bragg 
had  concentrated  his  forces  for  the  heaviest  attack.  The  plans 
of  battle  made  by  the  two  opposing  commanders  were  strik 
ingly  similar.  Rosecrans'  plan  was  to  throw  his  left  wing, 
under  Crittenden,  across  the  river  upon  the  Confederate  right 
under  Breckinridge,  to  crush  it  in  one  impetuous  dash,  and  to 
swing  around  through  Murfreesboro  to  the  Franklin  road  and 


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cut  off  the  Confederate  line  of  retreat.  Bragg,  on  the  other 
hand,  intended  to  make  a  similar  dasht  upon  the  Union  right, 
pivot  upon  his  center,  press  back  McCook  upon  that  center, 
crumpling  the  Federals  and  seizing  the  Nashville  turnpike  to 
cut  off  Rosecrans'  retreat  toward  Nashville.  Neither,  of 
course,  knew  of  the  other's  plan,  and  much  would  depend  on 
who  would  strike  first. 

At  the  early  light  of  the  last  day  of  the  year  the  Confed 
erate  left  wing  moved  upon  the  Union  right  in  a  magnificent 
battle-line,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  length  and  two  columns 
deep.  At  the  same  time  the  Confederate  artillery  opened  with 
their  cannon.  McCook  was  astonished  at  so  fierce  and  sudden 
a  charge.  The  gallant  Patrick  Cleburne,  one  of  the  ablest 
commanders  in  the  Southern  armies,  led  his  division,  which  had 
been  brought  from  the  Confederate  right,  in  the  charge.  The 
Federal  lines  were  ill  prepared  for  this  sudden  onslaught,  and 
before  McCook  could  arrange  them  several  batteries  were  over 
powered  and  eleven  of  the  heavy  guns  were  in  the  hands  of 
the  Confederates. 

Slowly  the  Union  troops  fell  back,  firing  as  they  went; 
but  they  had  no  power  to  check  the  impetuous,  overwhelming 
charge  of  the  onrushing  foe.  McCook's  two  right  divisions, 
under  Johnson  and  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  were  driven  back,  but  his 
third  division,  which  was  commanded  by  a  young  officer  who 
had  attracted  unusual  attention  at  the  battle  of  Perry ville — 
Philip  H.  Sheridan — held  its  ground.  At  the  first  Confed 
erate  advance,  Sill's  brigade  of  Sheridan's  division  drove  the 
troops  in  front  of  it  back  into  their  entrenchments,  and  in  the 
charge  the  brave  Sill  lost  his  life. 

While  the  battle  raged  with  tremendous  fury  on  the 
Union  right,  Rosecrans  was  three  miles  away,  throwing  his 
left  across  the  river.  Hearing  the  terrific  roar  of  battle  at  the 
other  end  of  the  line,  Rosecrans  hastened  to  begin  his  attack 
on  Breckinridge  hoping  to  draw  a  portion  of  the  Confederate 
force  away  from  McCook.  But  as  the  hours  of  the  forenoon 


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was  coming  nearer,  and  he  rightly  divined  that  his  right  wing 
was  receding  before  the  dashing  soldiers  of  the  South.  He 
ordered  McCook  to  dispute  every  inch  of  the  ground ;  but  Mc- 
Cook's  command  was  soon  torn  to  pieces  and  disorganized, 
except  the  division  of  Sheridan. 

The  latter  stood  firm  against  the  overwhelming  numbers, 
a  stand  that  attracted  the  attention  of  the  country  and  brought 
him  military  fame.  He  checked  the  onrushing  Confederates 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet;  he  formed  a  new  line  under  fire. 
In  his  first  position  Sheridan  held  his  ground  for  two  hours. 
The  Confederate  attack  had  also  fallen  heavily  on  Negley,  who 
was  stationed  on  Sheridan's  left,  and  on  Palmer,  both  of 
Thomas'  center.  Rousseau  commanding  the  reserves,  and 
Van  Cleve  of  Crittenden's  forces  were  ordered  to  the  support 
of  the  Union  center  and  right.  Here,  for  two  hours  longer 
the  battle  raged  with  unabated  fury,  and  the  slaughter  of  brave 
men  on  both  sides  was  appalling.  Three  times  the  whole  Con 
federate  left  and  center  were  thrown  against  the  Union  divis 
ions,  but  failed  to  break  the  lines.  At  length  when  their  car 
tridge  boxes  were  empty  Sheridan's  men  could  do  nothing  but 
retire  for  more  ammunition,  and  they  did  this  in  good  order 
to  a  rolling  plain  near  the  Nashville  road.  But  Rousseau  of 
Thomas'  center  was  there  to  check  the  Confederate  advance. 

It  was  now  past  noon,  and  still  the  battle  roar  resounded 
unceasingly  through  the  woods  and  hills  about  Murfreesboro. 
Though  both  hosts  had  struggled  and  suffered  since  early 
morning,  they  still  held  to  their  guns,  pouring  withering  vol 
leys  into  each  other's  ranks.  The  Federal  right  and  center 
had  been  forced  back  at  right  angles  to  the  position  they  had 
held  when  day  dawned;  and  the  Confederate  left  was  swung 
around  at  right  angles  to  its  position  of  the  morning.  The 
Federal  left  rested  on  Stone's  River,  while  Bragg's  right 
was  on  the  same  stream  and  close  to  the  line  in  blue.  Mean 
time,  Rosecrans  had  massed  his  artillery  on  a  little  hill  over- 


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looking  the  field  of  action.  He  had  also  re-formed  the  broken 
lines  of  the  right  and  center  and  called  in  twelve  thousand  fresh 
troops.  Then,  after  a  brief  lull,  the  battle  opened  again  and 
the  ranks  of  both  sides  were  torn  with  grape  and  canister  and 
bursting  shells. 

In  answer  to  Bragg's  call  for  reenforcements  came  Breck- 
inridge  with  all  but  one  brigade  of  his  division,  a  host  of  about 
seven  thousand  fresh  troops.  The  new  Confederate  attack 
began  slowly,  but  increased  its  speed  at  every  step.  Suddenly, 
a  thundering  volley  burst  from  the  line  in  blue,  and  the  front 
ranks  of  the  attacking  column  disappeared.  Again,  a  volley 
tore  through  the  ranks  in  gray,  and  the  assault  was  abandoned. 

The  battle  had  raged  for  nearly  eleven  hours,  when  night 
enveloped  the  scene,  and  the  firing  abated  slowly  and  died 
away.  It  had  been  a  bloody  day — this  first  day's  fight  at 
Stone's  River — and  except  at  Antietam  it  had  not  thus  far 
been  surpassed  in  the  war.  The  advantage  was  clearly  with 
the  Confederates.  They  had  pressed  back  the  Federals  for  two 
miles,  had  routed  their  right  wing  and  captured  many  pris 
oners  and  twenty-eight  heavy  guns.  But  Rosecrans  deter 
mined  to  hold  his  ground  and  try  again. 

The  next  day  was  New  Year's  and  but  for  a  stray  fusil 
lade,  here  and  there,  both  armies  remained  inactive,  except  that 
each  quietly  prepared  to  renew  the  contest  on  the  morrow. 
The  renewal  of  the  battle  on  January  2nd  was  fully  expected 
on  both  sides,  but  there  was  little  fighting  till  four  in  the  after 
noon.  Rosecrans  had  sent  General  Van  Cleve's  division  on 
January  1st  across  the  river  to  seize  an  elevation  from  which  he 
could  shell  the  town  of  Murfreesboro.  Bragg  now  sent  Breck- 
inridge  to  dislodge  the  division,  and  he  did  so  with  splendid 
effect.  But  Breckinridge's  men  came  into  such  a  position  as 
to  be  exposed  to  the  raking  fire  of  fifty-two  pieces  of  Federal 
artillery  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  Returning  the  deadly 
and  constant  fire  as  best  they  could,  they  stood  the  storm  of 
shot  and  shell  for  half  an  hour  when  they  retreated  to  a  place 


^ 


AN  UNCEASING  WORK  OF  WAR 

In  the  picture  the  contraband  laborers  often  pressed  into  service  by  Federals  are  repairing  the  "stringer" 
track  near  Murfreesboro  after  the  battle  of  Stone's  River.  The  long  lines  of  single-track  road,  often  involv 
ing  a  change  from  broad-gauge  to  narrow-gauge,  were  entirely  inadequate  for  the  movement  of  troops 
in  that  great  area.  In  these  isolated  regions  the  railroads  often  became  the  supreme  objective  of  both 
sides.  \Vhen  disinclined  to  offer  battle,  each  struck  in  wild  raids  against  the  other's  line  of  communica 
tion.  Sections  of  track  were  tipped  over  embankments;  rails  were  torn  up,  heated  red-hot  in  bonfires,  and 
twisted  so  that  they  could  never  be  used  again.  The  wrecking  of  a  railroad  might  postpone  a  maneuver 
for  months,  or  might  terminate  a  campaign  suddenly  in  defeat.  Each  side  in  retreat  burned  its  bridges 
and  destroyed  the  railroad  behind  it.  Again  advancing,  each  had  to  pause  for  the  weary  work  of  repair. 


Olombat  at 


of  safety,  leaving  seventeen  hundred  of  their  number  dead  or 
wounded  on  the  field.  That  night  the  two  armies  again  lay 
within  musket  shot  of  each  other.  The  next  day  brought  no 
further  conflict  and  during  that  night  General  Bragg  moved 
away  to  winter  quarters  at  Shelbyville,  on  the  Elk  River. 

Murfreesboro,  or  Stone's  River,  was  one  of  the  great  bat 
tles  of  the  war.  The  losses  were  about  thirteen  thousand  to 
the  Federals  and  over  ten  thousand  to  the  Confederates.  Both 
sides  claimed  victory — the  South  because  of  Bragg's  signal 
success  on  the  first  day;  the  North  because  of  Breckinridge's 
fearful  repulse  at  the  final  onset  and  of  Bragg's  retreating  in 
the  night  and  refusing  to  fight  again.  A  portion  of  the  Con 
federate  army  occupied  Shelbyville,  Tennessee,  and  the  larger 
part  entrenched  at  Tullahoma,  eighteen  miles  to  the  southeast. 

Six  months  after  the  battle  of  Stone's  River,  the  Federal 
army  suddenly  awoke  from  its  somnolent  condition — a  winter 
and  spring  spent  in  raids  and  unimportant  skirmishes — and 
became  very  busy  preparing  for  a  long  and  hasty  march.  Rose- 
crans'  plan  of  campaign  was  brilliant  and  proved  most  effective. 
He  realized  that  Tullahoma  was  the  barrier  to  Chattanooga, 
and  determined  to  drive  the  Confederates  from  it. 

On  June  23,  1863,  the  advance  began.  The  cavalry,  under 
General  Stanley,  had  received  orders  to  advance  upon  Shelby 
ville  on  the  24th,  and  during  that  night  to  build  immense  and 
numerous  camp-fires  before  the  Confederate  stronghold  at 
Shelbyville,  to  create  the  impression  that  Rosecrans'  entire 
army  was  massing  at  that  point.  But  the  wily  leader  of  the 
Federals  had  other  plans,  and  when  Stanley,  supported  by 
General  Granger,  had  built  his  fires,  the  larger  force  was 
closing  in  upon  Tullahoma. 

The  stratagem  dawned  upon  Bragg  too  late  to  check 
Rosecrans'  plans.  Stanley  and  Granger  made  a  brilliant  cap 
ture  of  Shelbyville,  and  Bragg  retired  to  Tullahoma ;  but  find 
ing  here  that  every  disposition  had  been  made  to  fall  upon  his 
rear,  he  continued  his  southward  retreat  toward  Chattanooga. 


[Part  VI] 


Dec. 

1862 


ll 


FREDERICKSBURG— DISASTER  FOR  A 
NEW  UNION  LEADER 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  fought  gallantly;  it  had  not  lost  a 
single  cannon,  all  its  attacks  being  made  by  masses  of  infantry;  it  had 
experienced  neither  disorder  nor  rout.  But  the  defeat  was  complete,  and 
its  effects  were  felt  throughout  the  entire  country  as  keenly  as  in  the  ranks 
of  the  army.  The  little  confidence  that  Burnside  had  been  able  to  inspire 
in  his  soldiers  had  vanished,  and  the  respect  which  everybody  entertained 
for  the  noble  character  of  the  unfortunate  general  could  not  supply  its 
place. — Comte  de  Paris,  in  "History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America" 

THE  silent  city  of  military  graves  at  Fredericksburg  is 
a  memorial  of  one  of  the  bloodiest  battles  of  the  Civil 
War.  The  battle  of  Antietam  had  been  regarded  a  victory  by 
the  Federals  and  a  source  of  hope  to  the  North,  after  a  weari 
some  period  of  inaction  and  defeats.  General  George  B.  Mc- 
Clellan,  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  failed  to 
follow  up  this  advantage  and  strike  fast  and  hard  while  the 
Southern  army  was  shattered  and  weak.  President  Lincoln's 
impatience  was  brought  to  a  climax;  McClellan  was  relieved 
and  succeeded  by  General  Ambrose  E.  Burnside,  who  was 
looked  upon  with  favor  by  the  President,  and  who  had  twice 
declined  this  proffered  honor.  It  was  on  November  5,  1862, 
nearly  two  months  after  Antietam,  when  this  order  was  issued. 
The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  in  splendid  form  and  had 
made  plans  for  a  vigorous  campaign.  On  the  9th  Burnside 
assumed  command,  and  on  the  following  day  McClellan  took 
leave  of  his  beloved  troops. 

Burnside  at  once  changed  the  whole  plan  of  campaign, 
and  decided  to  move  on  Fredericksburg,  which  lay  between  the 
Union  and  Confederate  armies.  He  organized  his  army  into 


'/  ' 
'/i 


:',' 


rriterirksburg — StaaBter  for  a  Nrtu  Sleator 


three  grand  divisions,  under  Generals  Sumner,  Hooker,  and 
Franklin,  commanding  the  right,  center,  and  left,  and  moved 
his  troops  from  Warrenton  to  Falmouth.  A  delay  of  some 
two  weeks  wras  due  to  the  failure  of  arrival  of  the  pontoons.  In 
a  council  of  war  held  on  the  night  of  December  10th  the 
officers  under  Burnside  expressed  themselves  almost  unani 
mously  as  opposed  to  the  plan  of  battle,  but  Burnside  disre 
garded  their  views  and  determined  to  carry  out  his  original 
plans  immediately.  After  some  delay  and  desultory  fighting 
for  two  days,  the  crossing  of  the  army  was  effected  by  the 
morning  of  December  13th.  By  this  time  General  Robert  E. 
Lee,  commanding  the  Confederates,  had  his  army  concen 
trated  and  entrenched  on  the  hills  surrounding  the  town.  In 
their  efforts  to  place  their  bridges  the  Federals  were  seriously 
hindered  by  the  firing  of  the  Confederate  sharpshooters— 
"  hornets  that  were  stinging  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  into  a 
frenzy."  The  Confederate  fire  continued  until  silenced  by  a 
heavy  bombardment  of  the  city  from  the  Federal  guns,  when 
the  crossing  of  the  army  into  Fredericksburg  was  completed 
without  further  interference. 

The  forces  of  Lee  were  in  battle  array  about  the  town. 
Their  line  stretched  for  five  miles  along  the  range  of  hills  which 
spread  in  crescent  shape  around  the  lowland  where  the  city 
lay,  surrounding  it  on  all  sides  save  the  east,  where  the  river 
flowed.  The  strongest  Confederate  position  was  on  the  slopes 
of  the  lowest  hill  of  the  range,  Marye's  Heights,  which  rose 
in  the  rear  of  the  town.  Along  the  foot  of  this  hill  there  was 
a  stone  wall,  about  four  feet  in  height,  bounding  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Telegraph  road,  which  at  this  point  runs  north 
and  south,  being  depressed  a  few  feet  below  the  surface  of 
the  stone  wall,  thus  forming  a  breastwork  for  the  Confed 
erate  troops.  Behind  it  a  strong  force  was  concealed,  while 
higher  up,  in  several  ranks,  the  main  army  was  massed,  stretch 
ing  along  the  line  of  hills.  The  right  wing,  consisting  of 
thirty  thousand  troops  on  an  elevation  near  Hamilton's  Cross- 


THE  SECOND   LEADER  AGAINST  RICHMOND 


Major-General  Ambrose  Everett  Burnside  was  a  West  Point  graduate,  inventor  of  a 
breech-loading  rifle,  commander  of  a  brigade  in  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  captor  of 
Roanoke  Island  and  Newberne  (North  Carolina),  and  commander  of  the  Federal  left  at 
Antietam.  He  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  succeeded 
General  George  B.  McClellan  on  November  8, 1862.  He  was  a  brave  soldier,  but  was  an 
impatient  leader  and  inclined  to  be  somewhat  reckless.  He  pressed  rapidly  his  advance 
against  Lee  and  massed  his  entire  army  along  Stafford  Heights,  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Rappahannock,  opposite  Fredericksburg.  According  to  General  W.  B.  Franklin  (who 
commanded  the  left  grand  division  of  the  army),  the  notion  that  a  serious  battle  was 
necessary  to  Federal  control  of  the  town  "was  not  entertained  by  any  one."  General 
Sumner  (who  led  the  advance  of  Burnside 's  army)  held  this  opinion  but  he  had  not 
received  orders  to  cross  the  river.  Crossing  was  delayed  nearly  a  month  and  this 
delay  resulted  in  the  Federal  disaster  on  December  13th.  This  put  an  abrupt  end  to 
active  operations  by  Burnside  against  Lee.  This  picture  was  taken  at  Warrenton, 
November  24th,  on  the  eve  of  the  departure  of  the  army  for  its  march  to  Fredericksburg. 


rrfterirkahurg — ifeaater  for  a 


ing  of  the  Fredericksburg  and  Potomac  Railroad,  was  com 
manded  by  "  Stonewall "  Jackson.  The  left,  on  Marye's 
Heights  and  Marye's  Hill,  was  commanded  by  the  redoubtable 
Longstreet.  The  Southern  forces  numbered  about  seventy- 
eight  thousand. 

Into  the  little  city  below  and  the  adjoining  valleys,  the 
Federal  troops  had  been  marching  for  two  days.  Franklin's 
Left  Grand  Division  of  forty  thousand  was  strengthened  by 
two  divisions  from  Hooker's  Center  Grand  Division,  and  was 
ordered  to  make  the  first  attack  on  the  Confederate  right  under 
Jackson.  Sumner's  Right  Grand  Division,  also  reenforced 
from  Hooker's  forces,  was  formed  for  assault  against  the  Con 
federate's  strongest  point  at  Marye's  Hill. 

All  this  magnificent  and  portentous  battle  formation  had 
been  effected  under  cover  of  a  dense  fog,  and  when  it  lifted  on 
that  fateful  Saturday  there  was  revealed  a  scene  of  truly  mili 
tary  grandeur.  Concealed  by  the  somber  curtain  of  nature 
the  Southern  hosts  had  fixed  their  batteries  and  entrenched 
themselves  most  advantageously  upon  the  hills,  and  the  Union 
legions,  massed  in  menacing  strength  below,  now  lay  within 
easy  cannon-shot  of  their  foe.  The  Union  army  totaled  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  men.  After  skirmishing  and 
gathering  of  strength,  it  was  at  length  ready  for  the  final 
spring  and  the  death-grapple. 

When  the  sun's  rays  broke  through  the  fog  during  the 
forenoon  of  December  13th,  Franklin's  Grand  Division  was 
revealed  in  full  strength  in  front  of  the  Confederate  right, 
marching  and  countermarching  in  preparation  for  the  com 
ing  conflict.  Officers  in  new,  bright  uniforms,  thousands  of 
bayonets  gleaming  in  the  sunshine,  champing  steeds,  rattling 
gun-carriages  whisking  artillery  into  proper  range  of  the  foe, 
infantry,  cavalry,  batteries,  with  officers  and  men,  formed  a 
scene  of  magnificent  grandeur  which  excited  the  admiration 
even  of  the  Confederates.  This  maneuver  has  been  called  the 
grandest  military  scene  of  the  war. 


Dec. 
1862 


j-£==7 -^}™ll)) 


PEE 


THE  DETAINED   GUNS 


Fredericksburg,  February,  1863.  In  the  foreground,  looking  from 
what  is  approximately  the  same  position  as  the  opening  picture, 
are  three  guns  of  Tyler's  Connecticut  battery.  It  was  from  all 
along  this  ridge  that  the  town  had  suffered  its  bombardment 
in  December  of  the  previous 
year.  Again  the  armies  were 
separated  by  the  Rappahan- 
nock  River.  There  was  a  new 
commander  at  the  head  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac — Gen 
eral  Hooker.  The  plundered 
and  deserted  town  now  held 
by  the  Confederates  was  to  be 
made  the  objective  of  another 
attack.  The  heights  beyond  . 
were  once  more  to  be  assaulted; 
bridges  were  to  be  rebuilt. 
But  all  to  no  purpose.  This 
ground  of  much  contention  was 
deserted  some  time  before  Lee 
advanced  to  his  invasion  of 
Pennsylvania.  Very  slowly  the 
inhabitants  of  Fredericksburg 


had  returned  to  their  ruined  homes.  The  town  was  a  vast 
Federal  cemetery,  the  dead  being  buried  in  gardens  and 
backyards,  for  during  its  occupancy  almost  every  dwelling  had 
been  turned  into  a  temporary  hospital.  After  the  close  of  the 

war  these  bodies  were  gathered 
and  a  National  Cemetery  was 
established  on  Willis'  Hill, 
on  Marye's  Heights,  the  point 
successfully  defended  by  Lee's 
veterans. 

Heavy  pontoon-boats,  each  on 
its  separate  wagon,  were  some 
times  as  necessary  as  food  or 
ammunition.  At  every  impor 
tant  crossing  of  the  many  rivers 
that  had  to  be  passed  in 
the  Peninsula  Campaign  the 
bridges  had  been  destroyed. 
There  were  few  places  where 
these  streams  were  fordable. 
Pontoons,  therefore,  made  a 
most  important  adjunct  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac. 


PONTOON-BOATS   IN   TRANSIT 


itsaster  fnr  a 


foalter 


Yet  with  all  this  brave  show,  we  have  seen  that  Burnside's 
subordinate  officers  were  unanimous  in  their  belief  in  the 
rashness  of  the  undertaking.  Enthusiasm  was  sadly  lacking. 
The  English  military  writer,  Colonel  Henderson,  has  explained 
why  this  was  so: 

And  yet  that  vast  array,  so  formidable  of  aspect,  lacked  that 
moral  force  without  which  physical  power,  even  in  its  most  terrible 
form,  is  but  an  idle  show.  Not  only  were  the  strength  of  the  Confed 
erate  position,  the  want  of  energy  of  preliminary  movements,  the  inse 
curity  of  their  own  situation,  but  too  apparent  to  the  intelligence  of 
the  regimental  officers  and  men,  but  they  mistrusted  their  commander. 
Northern  writers  have  recorded  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  never 
went  down  to  battle  with  less  alacrity  than  on  this  day  at  Fredericks- 
burg. 

The  first  advance  began  at  8:30  in  the  morning,  while 
the  fog  was  still  dense,  upon  Jackson's  right.  Reynolds 
ordered  Meade  with  a  division,  supported  by  two  other  divi 
sions  under  Doubleday  and  Gibbon,  to  attack  Jackson  at  his 
weakest  point,  the  extreme  right  of  the  Confederate  lines, 
and  endeavor  to  seize  one  of  the  opposing  heights.  The  ad 
vance  was  made  in  three  lines  of  battle,  which  were  guarded  in 
front  and  on  each  flank  by  artillery  which  swept  the  field  in 
front  as  the  army  advanced.  The  Confederates  were  placed 
to  have  an  enfilading  sweep  from  both  flanks  along  the  entire 
front  line  of  march.  When  Reynolds'  divisions  had  ap 
proached  within  range,  Jackson's  small  arms  on  the  left  poured 
in  a  deadly  fire,  mowing  down  the  brave  men  in  the  Union 
lines  in  swaths,  leaving  broad  gaps  where  men  had  stood. 

This  fire  was  repeated  again  and  again,  as  the  Federals 
pressed  on,  only  to  be  repulsed.  Once  only  was  the  Confeder 
ate  line  broken,  when  Meade  carried  the  crest,  capturing  flags 
and  prisoners.  The  ground  lost  by  the  Confederates  was  soon 
recovered,  and  the  Federals  were  forced  to  retire.  Some  of  the 
charges  made  by  the  Federals  during  this  engagement  were 
heroic  in  the  extreme,  only  equaled  by  the  opposition  met 


THE   FLAMING   HEIGHTS 

This  photograph  from  the  Fredericksburg  river-bank  recalls  a  terrible  scene.  On  those  memorable  days  of  December  11  and  12,  1862, 
from  these  very  trenches  shown  in  the  foreground,  the  ragged  gray  riflemen  saw  on  that  hillside  across  the  river  the  blue  of  the  uni 
forms  of  the  massed  Federal  troops.  The  lines  of  tents  made  great  white  spaces,  but  the  ground  could  hardly  be  seen  for  the  host 
of  men  who  were  waiting,  alas!  to  die  by  thousands  on  this  coveted  shore.  From  these  hills,  too,  burst  an  incessant  flaming  and  roar 
ing  cannon  fire.  Siege-guns  and  field  artillery  poured  shot  and  shell  into  the  town  of  Fredericksburg.  Every  house  became  a  target, 
though  deserted  except  for  a  few  hardy  and  venturesome  riflemen.  There  was  scarcely  a  dwelling  that  escaped.  Ruined  and  battered 
and  bloody,  Fredericksburg  three  times  was  a  Federal  hospital,  and  its  backyards  became  little  cemeteries. 


PATRIOT   PUB.    CO. 


A  TARGET  AT  FREDERICKSBURG  FOR  THE  FEDERAL  GUNS 


—  iteasfrr  far  a 


foafor 


Dec. 
1862 


from  the  foe.  In  one  advance,  knapsacks  were  unslung  and 
bayonets  fixed;  a  brigade  marched  across  a  plowed  field,  and 
passed  through  broken  lines  of  other  brigades,  which  were 
retiring  to  the  rear  in  confusion  from  the  leaden  storm. 

The  fire  became  incessant  and  destructive;  many  fell, 
killed  or  wounded;  the  front  line  slackened  its  pace,  and  with 
out  orders  commenced  firing.  A  halt  seemed  imminent,  and  a 
halt  in  the  face  of  the  terrific  fire  to  which  the  men  were  exposed 
meant  death ;  but,  urged  on  by  regimental  commanders  in  per 
son,  the  charge  was  renewed,  when  with  a  shout  they  leaped 
the  ditches,  charged  across  the  railroad,  and  upon  the  foe,  kill 
ing  many  with  the  bayonet  and  capturing  several  hundred  pris 
oners.  But  this  was  only  a  temporary  gain.  In  every  instance 
the  Federals  were  shattered  and  driven  back.  Men  were  lying 
dead  in  heaps,  the  wounded  and  dying  were  groaning  in 
agony.  Soldiers  were  fleeing;  officers  were  galloping  to  and 
fro  urging  their  lines  forward,  and  begging  their  superior 
officers  for  assistance  and  reenforcement. 

A  dispatch  to  Burnside  from  Franklin,  dated  2:. 45,  was 
as  follows:  "  My  left  has  been  very  badly  handled;  what  hope 
is  there  of  getting  reenforcements  across  the  river?  "  An 
other  dispatch,  dated  3:45,  read:  "  Our  troops  have  gained  no 
ground  in  the  last  half  hour." 

In  their  retreat  the  fire  was  almost  as  destructive  as  dur 
ing  the  assault.  Most  of  the  wounded  were  brought  from  the 
field  after  this  engagement,  but  the  dead  were  left  where  they 
fell.  It  was  during  this  engagement  that  General  George  D. 
Bayard  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  shot  which  had  severed 
the  sword  belt  of  Captain  Gibson,  leaving  him  uninjured.  The 
knapsack  of  a  soldier  who  was  in  a  stooping  posture  was  struck 
by  a  ball,  and  a  deck  of  cards  was  sent  flying  twenty  feet  in 
the  air.  Those  witnessing  the  ludicrous  scene  called  to  him, 
"Oh,  deal  me  a  hand!"  thus  indicating  the  spirit  of  levity 
among  soldiers  even  amid  such  surroundings.  Another  sol 
dier  sitting  on  the  ground  suddenly  leaped  high  above  the 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  BRIDGES  THAT  A  BAND  OF  MUSIC  THREATENED 


At  Franklin  Crossing,  on  the  Rappahannock,  occurred  an  incident  that  proves  how  little  things  may  change 
the  whole  trend  of  the  best-laid  plans.  The  left  Union  wing  under  the  command  of  General  Franklin, 
composed  of  the  First  Army  Corps  under  General  Reynolds,  and  the  Sixth  under  General  W.  F.  Smith, 
was  crossing  to  engage  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  For  two  days  they  poured  across  these  yielding 
planks  between  the  swaying  boats  to  the  farther  shore.  Now,  in  the  crossing  of  bridges,  moving  bodies  of 
men  must  break  step  or  even  well-built  structures  might  be  threatened.  The  colonel  of  one  of  the  regi 
ments  in  General  Devens'  division  that  led  the  van  ordered  his  field  music  to  strike  up  just  as  the  head 
of  the  column  swept  on  to  the  flimsy  planking;  before  the  regiment  was  half-way  across,  unconsciously  the 
men  had  fallen  into  step  and  the  whole  fabric  was  swaying  to  the  cadenced  feet.  Vibrating  like  a  great  fiddle- 
string,  the  bridge  would  have  sunk  and  parted,  but  a  keen  eye  had  seen  the  danger.  "Stop  that  music!" 
was  the  order,  and  a  staff  officer  spurred  his  horse  through  the  men,  shouting  at  top  voice.  The  lone  charge 
was  made  through  the  marching  column:  some  jumped  into  the  pontoons  to  avoid  the  hoofs;  a  few  went 
overboard;  but  the  head  of  the  column  was  reached  at  last,  and  the  music  stopped.  A  greater  blunder 
than  this,  however,  took  place  on  the  plains  beyond.  Owing  to  a  misunderstanding  of  orders,  37,000 
troops  were  never  brought  into  action;  17,000  men  on  their  front  bore  the  brunt  of  a  long  day's  fighting. 


rriterirkslmrg — itaaater  for  a  New  Skator 


heads  of  his  comrades  as  a  shell  struck  the  spot,  scooping  a 
wheelbarrowful  of  earth,  but  the  man  was  untouched. 

Entirely  independent  of  the  action  in  which  the  Left 
Grand  Division  under  Franklin  was  engaged  against  the  right 
wing  of  the  Confederate  line,  Sumner's  Right  Grand  Division 
was  engaged  in  a  terrific  assault  upon  the  works  on  Marye's 
Heights,  the  stronghold  of  the  Confederate  forces.  Their 
position  was  almost  impregnable,  consisting  of  earthworks, 
wood,  and  stone  barricades  running  along  the  sunken  road  near 

the  foot  of  Marve's  Hill.    The  Federals  were  not  aware  of  the 

*  t 

sunken  road,  nor  of  the  force  of  twenty-five  hundred  under 
General  Cobb  concealed  behind  the  stone  wall,  this  wall  not 
being  new  work  as  a  part  of  the  entrenchments,  but  of  earlier 
construction.  When  the  advance  up  the  road  was  made  they 
were  harassed  by  shot  and  shell  and  rifle-balls  at  every  step, 
but  the  men  came  dashing  into  line  undismayed  by  the  terrific 
fire  which  poured  down  upon  them. 

The  Irish  Brigade,  the  second  of  Hancock's  division, 
under  General  Meagher,  made  a  wonderful  charge.  When 
they  returned  from  the  assault  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  out 
of  twelve  hundred  men  reported  under  arms  from  the  field, 
and  all  these  were  needed  to  care  for  their  wounded  comrades. 
The  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Pennsylvania  regiment  was 
new  on  the  field  of  battle,  but  did  fearless  and  heroic  service. 
The  approach  was  completely  commanded  by  the  Confederate 
guns.  Repeatedly  the  advance  was  repulsed  by  well-directed 
fire  from  the  batteries. 

Once  again  Sumner's  gallant  men  charged  across  a  rail 
road  cut,  running  down  one  side  and  up  the  other,  and  still 
again  attempted  to  escape  in  the  same  manner,  but  each  time 
they  were  forced  to  retire  precipitately  by  a  murderous  fire 
from  the  Confederate  batteries.  Not  only  was  the  Confed 
erate  fire  disastrous  upon  the  approach  and  the  successive 
repulses  by  the  foe,  but  it  also  inflicted  great  damage  upon 
the  masses  of  the  Federal  army  in  front  of  Marye's  Hill. 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  FAMOUS  "IRISH  BRIGADE" 

"The  Irish  Brigade"  (consisting  of  the  Twenty-eighth  Massachusetts,  Sixty-third,  Sixty-ninth 
and  Eighty-eighth  New  York  and  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Pennsylvania)  was  com 
manded  by  General  Thomas  F.  Meagher  and  advanced  in  Hancock's  Division  to  the  first  assault 
at  Marye's  Heights,  on  December  13,  1862.  In  this  charge  the  Irish  soldiers  moved  steadily  up 
the  ridge  until  within  a  few  yards  of  a  sunken  road,  from  which  unexpected  fire  mowed  them 
down.  Of  the  1,315  men  which  Meagher  led  into  battle,  545  fell  in  that  charge.  The  officer  stand 
ing  is  Colonel  Patrick  Kelly, of  the  Eighty-eighth  New  York,  who  was  one  of  the  valiant  heroes  of 
this  charge,  and  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  Irish  Brigade  after  General  Meagher.  He 
was  killed  at  Petersburg.  The  officer  seated  is  Captain  Clooney,  of  the  same  regiment,  who 
was  killed  at  Antietam.  Sitting  next  to  him  is  Father  Dillon,  Chaplain  of  the  Sixty-third 
New  York,  and  to  the  right  Father  Corby,  Chaplain  of  the  Eighty-eighth  New  York;  the 
latter  gave  absolution  to  Caldwell's  Division,  of  Hancock's  Corps,  under  a  very  heavy  fire  at 
Gettysburg.  By  the  side  of  Colonel  Kelly  stands  a  visiting  priest.  The  identification  of  this 
group  has  been  furnished  by  Captain  W.  L.  D.  O'Grady,  of  the  Eighty-eighth  New  York. 


rriterirkahurg — iteaBfrr  far  a  Nm  Ifoator 


Dec. 
1862 


The  Confederates'  effective  and  successful  work  on  Marye's 
Hill  in  this  hattle  was  not  alone  due  to  the  natural  strength 
of  their  position,  but  also  to  the  skill  and  generalship  of  the 
leaders,  and  to  the  gallantry,  courage,  and  well-directed  aim 
of  their  cannoneers  and  infantry. 

Six  times  the  heroic  Union  troops  dashed  against  the  in 
vulnerable  position,  each  time  to  be  repulsed  with  terrific  loss. 
General  Couch,  who  had  command  of  the  Second  Corps,  view 
ing  the  scene  of  battle  from  the  steeple  of  the  court-house  with 
General  Howard,  says :  "  The  whole  plain  was  covered  with 
men,  prostrate  and  dropping,  the  live  men  running  here  and 
there,  and  in  front  closing  upon  each  other,  and  the  wounded 
coming  back.  I  had  never  before  seen  fighting  like  that, 
nothing  approaching  it  in  terrible  uproar  and  destruction." 

General  Howard  reports  that  Couch  exclaimed:  "  Oh, 
great  God!  see  how  our  men,  our  poor  fellows,  are  falling!  " 
At  half -past  one  Couch  signaled  Burnside:  "  I  am  losing. 
Send  two  rifle  batteries." 

The  point  and  method  of  attack  made  by  Sumner  was 
anticipated  by  the  Confederates,  careful  preparation  having 
been  made  to  meet  it.  The  fire  from  the  Confederate  batteries 
harassed  the  Union  lines,  and  as  they  advanced  steadily,  heroic 
ally,  without  hurrah  or  battle-cry,  the  ranks  were  cut  to  pieces 
by  canister  and  shell  and  musket-balls.  Heavy  artillery  fire 
was  poured  into  the  Union  ranks  from  front,  right,  and  left 
with  frightful  results.  Quickly  filling  up  the  decimated  ranks 
they  approached  the  stone  wall  masking  the  death-trap  where 
General  Cobb  lay  with  a  strong  force  awaiting  the  approach. 
Torrents  of  lead  poured  into  the  bodies  of  the  defenseless  men, 
slaying,  crushing,  destroying  the  proud  army  of  a  few  hours 
before.  As  though  in  pity,  a  cloud  of  smoke  momentarily  shut 
out  the  wretched  scene  but  brought  no  balm  to  the  helpless 
victims  of  this  awful  carnage.  The  ground  was  so  thickly 
strewn  with  dead  bodies  as  seriously  to  impede  the  movements 
of  a  renewed  attack.  These  repeated  assaults  in  such  good 


* 


a® 


THE  SUMMIT  OF  SLAUGHTER 

Marye's  House  marked  the  center  of  the  Confederate  position  on  the  Heights,  before  which  the  Federals 
fell  three  deep  in  one  of  the  bravest  and  bloodiest  assaults  of  the  war.  The  eastern  boundary  of  the  Marye 
estate  was  a  retaining  wall,  along  which  ran  a  sunken  road;  on  the  other  side  of  this  was  a  stone  wall,  shoulder 
high,  forming  a  perfect  infantry  parapet.  Here  two  brigades  of  Confederates  were  posted  and  on  the  crest 
above  them  were  the  supporting  batteries,  while  the  slope  between  was  honeycombed  with  the  rifle-pits 
of  the  sharpshooters,  one  of  which  is  seen  in  the  picture.  Six  times  did  the  Federals,  raked  by  the  deadly 
fire  of  the  Washington  Artillery,  advance  to  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  sunken  road,  only  to  be  driven 
back  by  the  rapid  volleys  of  the  Confederate  infantry  concealed  there.  Less  than  three  of  every  five  men 
in  Hancock's  division  came  back  from  their  charge  on  these  death-dealing  heights.  The  complete  re 
pulse  of  the  day  and  the  terrific  slaughter  were  the  barren  results  of  an  heroic  effort  to  obey  orders. 


rctorirkshurg  — 


for  a 


order  caused  some  apprehension  on  the  part  of  General  Lee, 
who  said  to  Longstreet  after  the  third  attack,  "  General,  they 
are  massing  very  heavily  and  will  break  your  line,  I  am  afraid." 
But  the  great  general's  fears  proved  groundless. 

General  Cobb  was  borne  from  the  field  mortally  wounded, 
and  Kershaw  took  his  place  in  the  desperate  struggle.  The 
storm  of  shot  and  shell  which  met  the  assaults  was  terrific. 
Men  fell  almost  in  battalions;  the  dead  and  wounded  lay  in 
heaps.  Late  in  the  day  the  dead  bodies,  which  had  become 
frozen  from  the  extreme  cold,  were  stood  up  in  front  of  the 
soldiers  as  a  protection  against  the  awful  fire  to  shield  the  liv 
ing,  and  at  night  were  set  up  as  dummy  sentinels. 

The  steadiness  of  the  Union  troops,  and  the  silent,  deter 
mined  heroism  of  the  rank  and  file  in  these  repeated,  but  hope 
less,  assaults  upon  the  Confederate  works,  were  marvelous,  and 
amazed  even  their  officers.  The  real  greatness  in  a  battle  is  the 
fearless  courage,  the  brave  and  heroic  conduct,  of  the  men 
under  withering  fire.  It  was  the  enlisted  men  who  were  the 
glory  of  the  army.  It  was  they,  the  rank  and  file,  who  stood 
in  the  front,  closed  the  gaps,  and  were  mowed  down  in 
swaths  like  grass  by  cannon  and  musket-balls. 

After  the  sixth  disastrous  attempt  to  carry  the  works  of 
the  Confederate  left  it  was  night;  the  Federal  army  was  re 
pulsed  and  had  retired;  hope  was  abandoned,  and  it  was  seen 
that  the  day  was  lost  to  the  Union  side.  Then  the  shat 
tered  Army  of  the  Potomac  sought  to  gather  the  stragglers 
and  care  for  the  wounded.  Fredericksburg,  the  beautiful  Vir 
ginia  town,  was  a  pitiable  scene  in  contrast  to  its  appearance 
a  few  days  before.  Ancestral  homes  were  turned  into  bar 
racks  and  hospitals.  The  charming  drives  and  stately  groves, 
the  wonted  pleasure  grounds  of  Colonial  dames  and  Southern 
cavaliers,  were  not  filled  with  grand  carriages  and  gay  par 
ties,  but  with  war  horses,  soldiers,  and  military  accouterments. 
Aside  from  desultory  firing  by  squads  and  skirmishers  at 
intervals  there  was  no  renewal  of  the  conflict. 


THE  FATEFUL  CROSSING 


From  this,  the  Lacy  House,  which  Sumner  had  made  his  headquarters,  he  directed  the  advance  of  his  right 
grand  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on  December  11,  1862.  Little  did  he  dream  that  his  men  of 
the  Second  Corps  were  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  fighting  and  the  most  crushing  blow  of  the  defeat  on  the 
13th.  Soon  after  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  llth  the  columns  moved  out  with  alacrity  to  the 
river  bank  and  before  daybreak,  hidden  at  first  by  the  fog,  the  pontoniers  began  building  the  bridges. 
Confederate  sharpshooters  drove  off  the  working  party  from  the  bridge  below  the  Lacy  House  and  also 
from  the  middle  bridge  farther  down.  As  the  mist  cleared,  volunteers  ferried  themselves  over  in  the  boats 
and  drove  off  the  riflemen.  At  last,  at  daybreak  of  the  12th,  the  town  of  Fredericksburg  was  occupied, 
but  the  whole  of  another  foggy  day  was  consumed  in  getting  the  army  concentrated  on  the  western  shore. 
Nineteen  batteries  (one  hundred  and  four  guns)  accompanied  Sumner 's  troops,  but  all  save  seven  of  these 
were  ordered  back  or  left  in  the  streets  of  Fredericksburg.  Late  on  the  morning  of  the  13th  the  confused 
and  belated  orders  began  to  arrive  from  Burnside's  headquarters  across  the  river;  one  was  for  Sumner  to 
assault  the  Confederate  batteries  on  Marye's  Heights.  At  nightfall  Sumner's  men  retired  into  Fredericks 
burg,  leaving  4,800  dead  or  wounded  on  the  field.  "Oh,  those  men,  those  men  over  there!  I  cannot  get 
them  out  of  my  mind!"  wailed  Burnside  in  an  agony  of  failure.  Yet  he  was  planning  almost  in  the  same 
breath  to  lead  in  person  his  old  command,  the  Ninth  Corps,  in  another  futile  charge  in  the  morning.  On 
the  night  of  the  14th,  better  judgment  prevailed  and  the  order  came  to  retire  across  the  Rappahannock. 


rrfterirkshurg 


for  a  £3>ttt 


WT/MJM 


V 


The  bloody  carnage  was  over,  the  plan  of  Burnside  had 
ended  in  failure,  and  thousands  of  patriotic  and  brave  men, 
blindly  obedient  to  their  country's  command,  were  the  toll 
exacted  from  the  Union  army.  Burnside,  wild  with  anguish 
at  what  he  had  done,  walking  the  floor  of  his  tent,  exclaimed, 
"  Oh,  those  men — those  men  over  there,"  pointing  to  the 
battlefield,  "  I  am  thinking  of  them  all  the  time."  In  his 
report  of  the  battle  to  Washington,  Burnside  gave  reasons  for 
the  issue,  and  in  a  manly  way  took  the  responsibility  upon  him 
self,  and  most  highly  commended  his  officers  and  men.  He 
said,  "  For  the  failure  in  the  attack  I  am  responsible,  as  the 
extreme  gallantry,  courage,  and  endurance  shown  by  them 
[officers  and  men]  were  never  excelled." 

President  Lincoln's  verdict  in  regard  to  this  battle  is  ad 
verse  to  the  almost  unanimous  opinion  of  the  historians.  In  his 
reply,  December  22d,  to  General  Burnside's  report  of  the  bat 
tle,  he  says,  "  Although  you  were  not  successful,  the  attempt 
was  not  an  error,  nor  the  failure  other  than  an  accident." 
Burnside,  at  his  own  request,  was  relieved  of  the  command  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  however,  on  January  25,  1863,  and 
was  succeeded  by  General  Hooker.  The  Union  loss  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing  was  12,653,  and  the  Confederates  lost 
5,377. 

After  the  battle  the  wounded  lay  on  the  field  in  their 
agony  exposed  to  the  freezing  cold  for  forty-eight  hours  before 
arrangements  were  effected  to  care  for  them.  Many  were 
burned  to  death  by  the  long,  dead  grass  becoming  ignited  by 
cannon  fire.  The  scene  witnessed  by  the  army  of  those  scream 
ing,  agonizing,  dying  comrades  was  dreadful  and  heartrend 
ing.  Burnside's  plan  had  been  to  renew  the  battle,  but  the 
overwhelming  opinion  of  the  other  officers  prevailed.  The 
order  was  withdrawn  and  the  defeated  Union  army  slipped 
away  under  the  cover  of  darkness  on  December  15th,  and  en 
camped  in  safety  across  the  river.  The  battle  of  Fredericks- 
burg  had  passed  into  history. 


Dec. 

1862 


I 

1 


General  Joseph  Hooker  and  his  Staff.  These  were  the  men  whose  work  it  was,  during  the  winter  after 
Fredericksburg,  to  restore  the  esprit  de  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  tireless  energy  and  magnetic 
personality  of  Hooker  soon  won  officers  from  their  disaffection  and  put  an  end  to  desertions — which  had  been 
going  on  at  the  rate  of  two  hundred  per  day  before  he  took  command.  By  spring  everything  seemed  pro 
pitious  for  an  aggressive  campaign,  the  plans  for  which  were  brilliantly  drawn  and  at  first  vigorously  carried 
out,  giving  truth  to  Lincoln's  expressed  belief  that  Hooker  was  "a  trained  and  skilful  soldier."  In  that  re 
markable  letter  of  admonition  to  Hooker  upon  assuming  command,  Lincoln  added:  "But  beware  of  rashness, 
beware  of  rashness;  with  energy  and  with  sleepless  vigilance  go  forward  and  give  us  victories."  By  some 
strange  fate  it  was  not  rashness  but  quite  the  contrary  which  compassed  the  failure  of  "Fighting  Joe"  Hooker 
at  Chancellorsville.  His  first  forward  advance  was  executed  with  his  usual  bold  initiative.  Before  Lee  could 
fully  divine  his  purpose,  Hooker  with  thirty-six  thousand  men  was  across  his  left  flank  in  a  favorable  posi 
tion,  with  the  main  body  of  his  army  at  hand  ready  to  give  battle.  Then  came  Hooker's  inexplicable  order 
to  fall  back  upon  Chancellorsville.  That  very  night,  consulting  in  the  abandoned  Federal  position,  Lee  and 
Jackson  formed  the  plan  which  drove  Hooker  back  across  the  Rappahannock  in  ignominious  defeat. 


CHANCELLORSVILLE  AND  JACKSON'S 
FLANKING  MARCH 

AFTER  the  Fredericksburg  campaign  the  Union  forces 
encamped  at  Falmouth  for  the  winter,  while  Lee  re 
mained  with  the  Southern  army  on  the  site  of  his  successful 
contest  at  Fredericksburg.  Thus  the  two  armies  lay  facing 
each  other  within  hailing  distance,  across  the  historic  river, 
waiting  for  the  coming  of  spring.  Major- General  Joseph 
Hooker,  popularly  known  as  "  Fighting  Joe  "  Hooker,  who 
had  succeeded  Burnside  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  soon  had  the  troops  on  a  splendid  campaign  footing. 
His  force  was  between  125,000  and  130,000  men;  Lee's,  about 
60,000. 

Hooker  conceived  a  plan  of  campaign  which  was  ingen 
ious  and  masterful,  and  had  he  carried  it  out  there  wrould 
have  been  a  different  story  to  tell  about  Chancellorsville.  The 
plan  was  to  deploy  a  portion  of  the  army  to  serve  as  a  decoy 
to  Lee,  while  the  remainder  of  the  host  at  the  same  time 
occupied  the  vicinity  of  Chancellorsville,  a  country  mansion, 
in  the  center  of  the  wilderness  that  stretched  along  the 
Rappahannock. 

Lee  was  a  great  general  and  a  master  in  strategy.  He 
had  learned  of  Hooker's  plan  and,  paying  but  little  attention 
to  Sedgwick  east  of  Fredericksburg,  had  turned  to  face 
Hooker.  By  a  rapid  night  march  he  met  the  Union  army 
before  it  had  reached  its  destination.  He  was  pushed  back, 
however,  by  Sykes,  of  Meade's  corps,  who  occupied  the  posi 
tion  assigned  to  him.  Meade  was  on  the  left,  and  S locum  on 
the  right,  with  adequate  support  in  the  rear.  All  was  in  readi 
ness  and  most  favorable  for  the  "  certain  destruction  "  of  the 
Confederates  predicted  by  "  Fighting  Joe "  when,  to  the 
amazement  and  consternation  of  all  his  officers,  Hooker 


EVIEW   OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


A  MAN  OF  WHOM  MUCH  WAS  EXPECTED 


General  Joseph  Hooker.  A  daring  and  experienced  veteran  of  the  Mexican  War,  Hooker  had  risen  in  the  Civil  War  from  brigade  com 
mander  to  be  the  commander  of  a  grand  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  had  never  been  found  wanting.  His  advancement 
to  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on  January  26,  1863,  was  a  tragic  episode  in  his  own  career  and  in  that  of  the  Federal  arms. 
Gloom  hung  heavy  over  the  North  after  Fredericksburg.  Upon  Hooker  fell  the  difficult  task  of  redeeming  the  unfulfilled  political 
pledges  for  a  speedy  lifting  of  that  gloom.  It  was  his  fortune  only  to  deepen  it. 


V 


ordered  the  whole  army  to  retire  to  the  position  it  had  occupied 
the  day  before,  leaving  the  advantage  to  his  opponents. 

Lee  quickly  moved  his  army  into  the  position  thus  relin 
quished,  and  began  feeling  the  Federal  lines  with  skirmishers 
and  some  cannonading  during  the  evening  of  May  1st.  By 
the  next  morning  the  two  armies  were  in  line  of  battle. 

The  danger  in  which  the  Confederate  army  now  found 
itself  was  extreme.  One  large  Federal  army  was  on  its  front, 
while  another  was  at  its  rear,  below  Fredericksburg.  But 
Lee  threw  the  hopes  of  success  into  one  great  and  decisive 
blow  at  Hooker's  host.  Dividing  an  army  in  the  face  of 
the  foe  is  extremely  dangerous  and  contrary  to  all  accepted 
theories  of  military  strategy;  but  there  comes  a  time  when 
such  a  course  proves  the  salvation  of  the  legions  in  peril. 
Such  was  the  case  at  Chancellorsville  on  May  2,  1863. 

At  7  A.M.  the  cannonading  began  its  death-song  and  was 
soon  followed  by  infantry  demonstrations,  but  without  serious 
results.  The  action  was  continued.  Early  in  the  afternoon, 
Hooker  by  a  ruse  was  beguiled  into  the  belief  that  Lee's 
army  was  in  full  retreat.  What  Hooker  had  seen  and  be 
lieved  to  be  a  retreat  was  the  marching  of  Jackson's  forces, 
about  twenty-six  thousand  strong,  from  the  battlefield.  What 
he  did  not  see,  however,  was  that,  after  a  few  miles,  Jackson 
turned  abruptly  and  made  for  the  right  flank  of  the  Federal 
host,  the  Eleventh  Corps,  under  Howard.  It  was  after  half- 
past  five  when  Jackson  broke  from  the  woods  into  which  he 
had  marched  in  a  paralyzing  charge  upon  the  unprepared 
troops  of  Howard. 

The  approach  of  this  Confederate  force  was  first  inti 
mated  to  the  Federals  by  the  bending  of  shrubbery,  the  stam 
pede  of  rabbits  and  squirrels,  and  the  flocks  of  birds  in  wild 
flight,  as  before  a  storm.  Then  appeared  a  few  skirmishers, 
then  a  musket  volley,  and  then  the  storm  broke  in  all  its  fury 
—the  war  scream,  the  rattling  musketry,  the  incessant  roar  of 
cannon.  The  Confederates  fought  heroically.  The  knowledge 


1 


,/ 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW   OF  REVIEWS  CO. 

,  "STONEWALL"  JACKSON— TWO  WEEKS  BEFORE  HIS  MORTAL   WOUND 

The  austere,  determined  features  of  the  victor  of  Chancellorsville,  just  as  they  appeared  two  weeks  before  the  tragic  shot  that  cost  the 
Confederacy  its  greatest  Lieutenant-General — and,  in  the  opinion  of  sound  historians,  its  chief  hope  for  independence.  Only  once  had  a 
war  photograph  of  Jackson  been  taken  up  to  April,  1863,  when,  just  before  the  movement  toward  Chancellorsville,  he  was  persuaded  to 
enter  a  photographer's  tent  at  Hamilton's  Crossing,  some  three  miles  below  Fredericksburg,  and  to  sit  for  his  last  portrait.  At  a  glance 
one  can  feel  the  self-expression  and  power  in  this  stern  worshiper  of  the  God  of  Battles;  one  can  understand  the  eulogy  written  by  the 
British  military  historian,  Henderson:  "The  fame  of  'Stonewall  Jackson  is  no  longer  the  exclusive  property  of  Virginia  and  the  South; 
it  has  become  the  birthright  of  every  man  privileged  to  call  himself  an  American." 


flunking 


May 
1863 


\ 


that  "  Old  Jack  "  was  on  the  field  was  inspiration  enough 
for  them.  The  charge  was  so  precipitous,  so  unexpected  and 
terrific  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  Federals  to  hold  their 
lines  and  stand  against  the  impact  of  that  awful  onslaught 
which  carried  everything  before  it.  The  regiments  in  Jack 
son's  path,  resisting  his  advance,  were  cut  to  pieces  and  swept 
along  as  by  a  tidal  wave,  rolled  up  like  a  scroll,  multitudes  of 
men,  horses,  males,  and  cattle  being  piled  in  an  inextricable 
mass.  Characteristic  of  Jackson's  brilliant  and  unexpected 
movements,  it  was  like  an  electric  flash,  knocking  the  Eleventh 
Corps  into  impotence,  as  Jackson  expected  it  would.  This 
crowning  and  final  stroke  of  Jackson's  military  genius  was 
not  impromptu,  but  the  result  of  his  own  carefully  worked-out 
plan,  which  had  been  approved  by  Lee. 

General  Hooker  was  spending  the  late  afternoon  hours 
in  his  headquarters  at  the  Chancellor  house.  To  the  east 
ward  there  was  considerable  firing,  where  his  men  were  car 
rying  out  the  plan  of  striking  Lee  in  flank.  Jackson  was 
retreating,  of  that  he  was  sure,  and  Sickles,  with  Pleasanton's 
cavalry  and  other  reenforcements,  was  in  pursuit.  Everything 
seemed  to  be  going  well.  About  half -past  six  the  sounds  of 
battle  grew  suddenly  louder  and  seemed  to  come  from  another 
direction.  A  staff  -officer  went  to  the  front  of  the  house  and 
turned  his  field-glass  toward  the  west. 

"  My  God,  here  they  come!  " 

At  the  startled  cry  Hooker  sprang  upon  his  horse  and 
dashed  down  the  road.  He  encountered  portions  of  the 
Eleventh  Corps  pouring  out  of  the  forest — a  badly  mixed 
crowd  of  men,  wagons,  and  ambulances.  They  brought  the 
news  that  the  right  wing  was  overwhelmed.  Hurriedly 
Hooker  sought  his  old  command,  Berry's  division  of  the 
Third  Corps,  stationed  in  support  of  the  Eleventh.  "  For 
ward,  with  the  bayonet !  "  he  commanded. 

An  officer  who  witnessed  the  scene  says  the  division  ad 
vanced  with  a  firm  and  steady  step,  cleaving  the  multitude 


WHERE  "STONEWALL"  JACKSON  FELL 


In  this  tangled  nook  Lee's  right-hand  man  was  shot  through  a  terrible  mistake  of  his  own  soldiers.  It  was  the 
second  of  May,  1863.  After  his  brilliant  flank  march,  the  evening  attack  on  the  rear  of  Hooker's  army  had  just 
been  driven  home.  About  half -past  eight,  Jackson  had  ridden  beyond  his  lines  to  reconnoiter  for  the  final  advance. 
A  single  rifle-shot  rang  out  in  the  darkness.  The  outposts  of  the  two  armies  were  engaged.  Jackson  turned 
toward  his  own  line,  where  the  Eighteenth  North  Carolina  was  stationed.  The  regiment,  keenly  on  the  alert  and 
startled  by  the  group  of  strange  horsemen  riding  through  the  gloom,  fired  a  volley  that  brought  several  men  and 
horses  to  the  earth.  Jackson  was  struck  once  in  the  right  hand  and  twice  in  the  left  arm,  a  little  below  the  shoulder. 
His  horse  dashed  among  the  trees;  but  with  his  bleeding  right  hand  Jackson  succeeded  in  seizing  the  reins  and 
turning  the  frantic  animal  back  into  the  road.  Only  with  difficulty  was  the  general  taken  to  the  rear  so  that  his 
wounds  might  be  dressed.  To  his  attendants  he  said,  "Tell  them  simply  that  you  have  a  wounded  Confederate 
officer. "  To  one  who  asked  if  he  was  seriously  hurt,  he  replied:  "Don't  bother  yourself  about  me.  Win  the  battle 
first  and  attend  to  the  wounded  afterward. "  He  was  taken  to  Guiney's  Station.  At  first  it  was  hoped  that  he 
would  recover,  but  pneumonia  set  in  and  his  strength  gradually  ebbed.  On  Sunday  evening,  May  10th,  he  uttered 
the  words  which  inspired  the  young  poet,  Sidney  Lanier,  to  write  his  elegy,  beautiful  in  its  serene  resignation. 


of  disbanded  Federals  as  the  bow  of  a  vessel  cleaves  the 
waves  of  the  sea.  It  struck  the  advance  of  the  Confederates 
obliquely  and  checked  it,  with  the  aid  of  the  Twelfth  Corps 
artillery. 

A  dramatic,  though  tragic,  feature  of  the  rout  was  the 
charge  of  the  Eighth  Pennsylvania  cavalry,  under  Major 
Keenan,  in  the  face  of  almost  certain  death,  to  save  the  artil 
lery  of  the  Third  Corps  from  capture.  The  guns  rested  upon 
low  ground  and  within  reach  of  the  Confederates.  The  Fed 
erals  had  an  equal  opportunity  to  seize  the  artillery,  but  re 
quired  a  few  minutes  to  prepare  themselves  for  action.  The 
Confederate  advance  must  be  checked  for  these  few  moments, 
and  for  this  purpose  Keenan  gallantly  led  his  five  hun 
dred  cavalrymen  into  the  woods,  while  his  comrades  brought 
the  guns  to  bear  upon  the  columns  in  gray.  He  gained  the 
necessary  time,  but  lost  his  life  at  the  head  of  his  regiment, 
together  with  Captain  Arrowsmith  and  Adjutant  Haddock, 
who  fell  by  his  side. 

The  light  of  day  had  faded  from  the  gruesome  scene. 
The  mighty  turmoil  was  silenced  as  darkness  gathered,  but 
the  day's  carnage  was  not  ended.  No  camp-fires  were  lighted 
in  the  woods  or  on  the  plain.  The  two  hostile  forces  were  con 
cealed  in  the  darkness,  watching  through  the  shadows,  wait 
ing  for — they  knew  not  what.  Finally  at  midnight  the  order 
"  Forward  "  was  repeated  in  subdued  tones  along  the  lines  of 
Sickles'  corps.  Out  over  the  open  and  into  the  deep,  dark 
thicket  the  men  in  blue  pursued  their  stealthy  advance  upon 
the  Confederate  position.  Then  the  tragedies  of  the  night 
were  like  that  of  the  day,  and  the  moon  shed  her  peaceful  rays 
down  upon  those  shadowy  figures  as  they  struggled  forward 
through  the  woods,  in  the  ravines,  over  the  hillocks.  The  Fed 
erals,  at  heavy  loss,  gained  the  position,  and  the  engagement 
assumed  the  importance  of  a  victory. 

It  was  on  this  day  that  death  robbed  the  South  of 
one  of  her  most  beloved  warriors.  After  darkness  had 


EVIEW  OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  STONE  WALL  AT  FREDERICKSBURG 


Behind  the  deadly  stone  wall  of  Marye's  Heights  after  Sedgwick's  men  had  swept  across  it  in  the  gallant 
charge  of  May  3,  1863.  This  was  one  of  the  strongest  natural  positions  stormed  during  the  war.  In  front 
of  this  wall  the  previous  year,  nearly  6,000  of  Burnside's  men  had  fallen,  and  it  was  not  carried.  Again  in 
the  Chancellors ville  campaign  Sedgwick's  Sixth  Corps  was  ordered  to  assault  it.  It  was  defended  the  second 
time  with  the  same  death-dealing  stubbornness  but  with  less  than  a  fourth  of  the  former  numbers — 9,000 
Confederates  against  20,000  Federals.  At  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  line  of  battle,  under  Colonel 
Hiram  Burnham,  moved  out  over  the  awful  field  of  the  year  before,  supported  to  right  and  left  by  flanking 
columns.  Up  to  within  twenty-five  yards  of  the  wall  they  pressed,  when  again  the  flame  of  musketry  fire 
belched  forth,  laying  low  in  six  minutes  36.5  per  cent,  of  the  Fifth  Wisconsin  and  the  Sixth  Maine.  The 
assailants  wavered  and  rallied,  and  then  with  one  impulse  both  columns  and  line  of  battle  hurled  themselves 
upon  the  wall  in  a  fierce  hand-to-hand  combat.  A  soldier  of  the  Seventh  Massachusetts  happened  to  peer 
through  a  crack  in  a  board  fence  and  saw  that  it  covered  the  flank  of  the  double  line  of  Confederates  in  the 
road.  Up  and  over  the  fence  poured  the  Federals  and  drove  the  Confederates  from  the  heights. 


an& 


SUanking 


May 
1863 


overspread  the  land,  Jackson,  accompanied  by  members  of  his 
staff,  undertook  a  reconnaissance  of  the  Federal  lines.  He 
was  planning  a  night  attack.  He  came  upon  a  line  of  Union 
infantry  lying  on  its  arms  and  was  forced  to  turn  back 
along  the  plank  road,  on  both  sides  of  which  he  had  sta 
tioned  his  own  men  with  orders  to  fire  upon  any  body  of  men 
approaching  from  the  direction  of  the  Federal  battle-lines. 
The  little  cavalcade  of  Confederate  officers  galloped  along  the 
highway,  directly  toward  the  ambuscade,  and  apparently  for 
getful  of  the  strict  orders  left  with  the  skirmishers.  A  sud 
den  flash  of  flame  lighted  the  scene  for  an  instant,  and  within 
that  space  of  time  the  Confederacy  was  deprived  of  one  of  its 
greatest  captains — Jackson  was  severely  wounded,  and  by 
his  own  men  and  through  his  own  orders.  When  the  news 
spread  through  Jackson's  corps  and  through  the  Confederate 
army  the  grief  of  the  Southern  soldiers  was  heartbreaking  to 
witness.  The  sorrow  spread  even  into  the  ranks  of  the  Fed 
eral  army,  which,  while  opposed  to  the  wounded  general  on 
many  hard-fought  battle-grounds,  had  learned  to  respect  and 
admire  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson. 

The  loss  of  Jackson  to  the  South  was  incalculable.  Lee 
had  pronounced  him  the  right  arm  of  the  whole  army.  Next 
to  Lee,  Jackson  was  considered  the  ablest  general  in  the  Con 
federate  army.  His  shrewdness  of  judgment,  his  skill  in 
strategy,  his  lightning-like  strokes,  marked  him  as  a  unique 
and  brilliant  leader.  Devoutly  religious,  gentle  and  noble  in 
character,  the  nation  that  was  not  to  be  disunited  lost  a  great 
citizen,  as  the  Confederate  army  lost  a  great  captain,  when  a 
.few  days  later  General  Jackson  died. 

That  night  orders  passed  from  the  Federal  headquarters 
to  Sedgwick,  below  Fredericksburg,  eleven  miles  away.  Be 
tween  him  and  Hooker  stood  the  Confederate  army,  flushed 
with  its  victories  of  the  day.  Immediately  in  his  front  was 
Fredericksburg,  with  a  strong  guard  of  Southern  warriors. 
Beyond  loomed  Marye's  Heights,  the  battle-ground  on  which 


JL 


7 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW  OF 


THE  WORK  OF  ONE  SHELL 


Part  of  the  Havoc  Wrought  on  Marye's  Heights  by  the  Assault  of  Sedgwick  on  May  3,  1863.  No  sooner  had 
they  seized  the  stone  wall  than  the  victorious  Federals  swarmed  up  and  over  the  ridge  above,  driving  the  Con 
federates  from  the  rifle-pits,  capturing  the  guns  of  the  famous  Washington  Artillery  which  had  so  long  guarded 
the  Heights,  and  inflicting  slaughter  upon  the  assaulting  columns.  If  Sedgwick  had  had  cavalry  he  could  have 
crushed  the  divided  forces  of  Early  and  cleared  the  way  for  a  rapid  advance  to  attack  Lee's  rear.  In  the 
picture  we  see  Confederate  caisson  wragons  and  horses  destroyed  by  a  lucky  shot  from  the  Second  Massa 
chusetts'  siege-gun  battery  planted  across  the  river  at  Falmouth  to  support  Sedgwick's  assault.  Surveying 
the  scene  stands  General  Herman  Haupt,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Military  Railways,  the  man  leaning  against 
the  stump.  By  him  is  W.  W.  Wright,  Superintendent  of  the  Military  Railroad.  The  photograph  was  taken 
on  May  3d,  after  the  battle.  The  Federals  held  Marye's  Heights  until  driven  off  by  fresh  forces  which  Lee 
had  detached  from  his  main  army  at  Chancellorsville  and  sent  against  Sedgwick  on  the  afternoon  of  the  4th. 


SUankwrj 


May 
1863 


—j 


V 


Burnside  had  in  the  preceding  winter  left  so  many  of  his 
brave  men  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  drive  the  Confederate  de 
fenders  from  the  crest. 

The  courageous  Sedgwick,  notwithstanding  the  formi 
dable  obstacles  that  lay  on  the  road  to  Chancellorsville,  re 
sponded  immediately  to  Hooker's  order.  He  was  already  on 
the  south  side  of  the  river,  but  he  was  farther  away  than 
Hooker  supposed.  Shortly  after  midnight  he  began  a  march 
that  was  fraught  with  peril  and  death.  Strong  resistance  was  of 
fered  the  advancing  blue  columns  as  they  came  to  the  threshold 
of  Fredericksburg,  but  they  swept  on  and  over  the  defenders, 
and  at  dawn  were  at  the  base  of  the  heights.  On  the  crest 
waved  the  standards  of  the  Confederate  Washington  Artil 
lery.  At  the  foot  of  the  slope  was  the  stone  wall  before  which 
the  Federals  had  fought  and  died  but  a  few  months  before, 
in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  Reenforcements  were  arriv 
ing  in  the  Confederate  trenches  constantly.  The  crest  and 
slopes  bristled  with  cannon  and  muskets.  The  pathways 
around  the  heights  were  barricaded.  The  route  to  the  front 
seemed  blocked;  still,  the  cry  for  help  from  Hooker  was 
resounding  in  the  ears  of  Sedgwick 

Gathering  his  troops,  he  attacked  directly  upon  the  stone 
wall  and  on  up  the  hillside,  in  the  face  of  a  terrific  storm  of 
artillery  and  musketry.  The  first  assault  failed ;  a  flank  move 
ment  met  with  no  better  success;  and  the  morning  was  nearly 
gone  when  the  Confederates  finally  gave  way  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet  before  the  irresistible  onset  of  men  in  blue.  The 
way  to  Chancellorsville  was  open;  but  the  cost  to  the  Fed 
erals  was  appalling.  Hundreds  of  the  soldiers  in  blue  lay 
wrapped  in  death  upon  the  bloody  slopes  of  Marye's  Heights. 

It  was  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  and  not  at  daybreak, 
as  Hooker  had  directed,  when  Sedgwick  appeared  in  the  rear 
of  Lee's  legions.  A  strong  force  of  Confederates  under 
Early  prevented  his  further  advance  toward  a  juncture  with 
Hooker's  army  at  Chancellorsville.  Since  five  o'clock  in  the 


I 


THE  DEMOLISHED  HEADQUARTERS 


From  this  mansion,  Hooker's  headquarters  during  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  he  rode 
away  after  the  injury  he  received  there  on  May  3d,  never  to  return.  The  general,  dazed 
after  Jackson's  swoop  upon  the  right,  was  besides  in  deep  anxiety  as  to  Sedgwick.  The 
latter 's  forty  thousand  men  had  not  yet  come  up.  Hooker  was  unwilling  to  suffer  further 
loss  without  the  certainty  of  his  cooperation.  So  he  decided  to  withdraw  his  army. 
The  movement  was  the  signal  for  increased  artillery  fire  from  the  Confederate  batteries, 
marking  the  doom  of  the  old  Chancellor  house.  Its  end  was  accompanied  by  some  heart 
rending  scenes.  Major  Bigelow  thus  describes  them:  "Missiles  pierced  the  walls  or  struck 
in  the  brickwork;  shells  exploded  in  the  upper  rooms,  setting  the  building  on  fire;  the 
chimneys  were  demolished  and  their  fragments  rained  down  upon  the  wounded  about  the 
building.  All  this  time  the  women  and  children  (including  some  slaves)  of  the  Chancellor 
family,  nineteen  persons  in  all,  were  in  the  cellar.  The  wounded  were  removed  from  in 
and  around  the  building,  men  of  both  armies  nobly  assisting  one  another  in  the  work." 


an&  Sarkaim'H  blanking  iEarrlf 


morning  the  battle  had  been  raging  at  the  latter  place,  and 
Jackson's  men,  now  commanded  by  Stuart,  though  being 
mowed  down  in  great  numbers,  vigorously  pressed  the  attack 
of  the  day  while  crying  out  to  one  another  "  Remember  Jack 
son,"  as  they  thought  of  their  wounded  leader. 

While  this  engagement  was  at  its  height  General  Hooker, 
leaning  against  a  pillar  of  the  Chancellor  house,  was  felled 
to  the  ground,  and  for  a  moment  it  was  thought  he  was 
killed.  The  pillar  had  been  shattered  by  a  cannon-ball. 
Hooker  soon  revived  under  the  doctor's  care  and  with  great 
force  of  will  he  mounted  his  horse  and  showed  himself  to 
his  anxious  troops.  He  then  withdrew  his  army  to  a  stronger 
position,  well  guarded  with  artillery.  The  Confederates  did 
not  attempt  to  assail  it.  The  third  day's  struggle  at  Chan- 
cellorsville  was  finished  by  noon,  except  in  Lee's  rear,  where 
Sedgwick  fought  all  day,  without  success,  to  reach  the  main 
body  of  Hooker's  army.  The  Federals  suffered  very  serious 
losses  during  this  day's  contest.  Even  then  it  was  believed 
that  the  advantage  rested  with  the  larger  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  and  that  the  Federals  had  an  opportunity  to  win.  Thirty- 
seven  thousand  Union  troops,  the  First,  and  three-quarters 
of  the  Fifth  Corps,  had  been  entirely  out  of  the  fight  on  that 
day.  Five  thousand  men  of  the  Eleventh  Corps,  who  were 
eager  to  retrieve  their  misfortune,  were  also  inactive. 

When  night  came,  and  the  shades  of  darkness  hid  the 
sights  of  suffering  on  the  battlefield,  the  Federal  army  was 
resting  in  a  huge  curve,  the  left  wing  on  the  Rappahannock 
and  the  right  on  the  Rapidan.  In  this  way  the  fords  across 
the  rivers  which  led  to  safety  were  in  control  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  Lee  moved  his  corps  close  to  the  bivouacs  of  the 
army  in  blue.  But,  behind  the  Confederate  battle-line,  there  was 
a  new  factor  in  the  struggle  in  the  person  of  Sedgwick,  with 
the  remnants  of  his  gallant  corps,  which  had  numbered  nearly 
twenty-two  thousand  when  they  started  for  the  front,  but  now 
were  depleted  by  their  terrific  charge  upon  Marye's  Heights 


RED  MEN  WHO  SUFFERED  IN  SILENCE 


In  modern  warfare  the  American  Indian  seems  somehow  to  be  entirely  out  of  place.  We  think  of  him  with  the  tomahawk  and  scalping- 
knife  and  have  difficulty  in  conceiving  him  in  the  ranks,  drilling,  doing  police  duty,  and  so  on.  Yet  more  than  three  thousand  Indians 
were  enlisted  in  the  Federal  army.  The  Confederates  enlisted  many  more  in  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Texas.  In  the  Federal  army 
the  red  men  were  used  as  advance  sharpshooters  and  rendered  meritorious  service.  This  photograph  shows  some  of  the  wounded 
Indian  sharpshooters  on  Marye's  Heights  after  the  second  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  A  hospital  orderly  is  attending  to  the  wants 
of  the  one  on  the  left-hand  page,  and  the  wounds  of  the  others  have  been  dressed.  In  the  entry  of  John  L.  Marye's  handsome  mansion 
close  by  lay  a  group  of  four  Indian  sharpshooters,  each  with  the  loss  of  a  limb — of  an  arm  at  the  shoulder,  of  a  leg  at  the  knee,  or  with 
an  amputation  at  the  thigh.  They  neither  spoke  nor  moaned,  but  suffered  and  died,  mute  in  their  agony.  During  the  campaign 
of  1864,  from  the  Wilderness  to  Appomattox,  Captain  Ely  S.  Parker,  a  gigantic  Indian,  became  one  of  Grant's  favorite  aids.  Before 
the  close  of  the  war  he  had  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  it  was  he  who  drafted  in  a  beautiful  handwriting  the 
terms  of  Lee's  surrender.  He  stood  over  six  feet  in  height  and  was  a  conspicuous  figure  on  Grant's  staff.  The  Southwestern  In 
dians  engaged  in  some  of  the  earliest  battles  under  General  Albert  Pike,  a  Northerner  by  birth,  but  a  Southern  sympathizer. 


anb  Jarksim'B  blanking  Ularirij 


May 
1863 


and  the  subsequent  hard  and  desperate  struggle  with  Early 
in  the  afternoon. 

Lee  was  between  two  fires — Hooker  in  front  and  Sedg- 
wrick  in  the  rear,  both  of  whose  forces  were  too  strong  to 
be  attacked  simultaneously.  Again  the  daring  leader  of  the 
Confederate  legions  did  the  unexpected,  and  divided  his  army 
in  the  presence  of  the  foe,  though  he  was  without  the  aid  of  his 
great  lieutenant,  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson. 

During  the  night  Lee  made  his  preparations,  and  when 
dawn  appeared  in  the  eastern  skies  the  movement  began. 
Sedgwick,  weak  and  battered  by  his  contact  with  Early  on 
the  preceding  afternoon,  resisted  bravely,  but  to  no  avail,  and 
the  Confederates  closed  in  upon  him  on  three  sides,  leaving  the 
way  to  Banks's  Ford  on  the  Rappahannock  open  to  escape. 
Slowly  the  Federals  retreated  and,  as  night  descended,  rested 
upon  the  river  bank.  After  dark  the  return  to  the  northern 
side  was  begun  by  Sedgwick's  men,  and  the  Chancellorsville 
campaign  was  practically  ended. 

The  long,  deep  trenches  full  of  Federal  and  Confederate 
dead  told  the  awful  story  of  Chancellorsville.  If  we  gaze  into 
these  trenches,  which  by  human  impulse  we  are  led  to  do,  after 
the  roar  and  din  of  the  carnage  is  still,  the  scene  greeting  the 
eye  will  never  be  forgotten.  Side  by  side,  the  heroes  in  torn 
and  bloody  uniforms,  their  only  shrouds,  were  gently  laid. 

The  Union  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  a  little  over 
seventeen  thousand,  and  it  cost  the  South  thirteen  thousand 
men  to  gain  this  victory  on  the  banks  of  the  Rappahannock. 
The  loss  to  both  armies  in  officers  was  very  heavy. 

The  two  armies  were  weary  and  more  than  decimated. 
It  appeared  that  both  were  glad  at  the  prospect  of  a  cessation 
of  hostilities.  On  the  night  of  May  5th,  in  a  severe  storm, 
Hooker  conveyed  his  corps  safely  across  the  river  and  settled 
the  men  again  in  their  cantonments  of  the  preceding'  winter 
at  Falmouth.  The  Confederates  returned  to  their  old  encamp 
ment  at  Fredericksburg. 


>   » 

^f^ 


VICKSBURG  AND  PORT  HUDSON 

On  the  banks  of  this,  the  greatest  river  h\  the  world,  the  most  de 
cisive  and  far-reaching  battle  of  the  war  was  fought.  Here  at  Yicksburg 
over  one  hundred  thousand  gallant  soldiers  and  a  powerful  fleet  of  gun 
boats  and  ironclads  in  terrible  earnestness  for  forty  days  and  nights  fought 
to  decide  whether  the  new  Confederate  States  should  be  cut  in  twain  ; 
whether  the  great  river  should  flow  free  to  the  Gulf,  or  should  have  its 
commerce  hindered.  We  all  know  the  result  —  the  Union  army  under 
General  Grant,  and  the  Union  navy  under  Admiral  Porter  were  victorious. 
The  Confederate  army,  under  General  Pemberton,  numbering  thirty  thou 
sand  men,  was  captured  and  General  Grant's  army  set  free  for  operating 
in  other  fields.  It  was  a  staggering  blow  from  which  the  Confederacy 
never  rallied.  —  Lieutenant-General  Stephen  D.  Lee,  C.S.A.,  at  the  dedica 
tion  of  the  Massachusetts  Volunteers'*  statue  at  the  Vicksburg  National  Mili 
tary  Park,  Vicksburg,  Mississippi,  November  1^  1903. 


Mississippi  River,  in  its  lower  course,  winds  like  a 
JL  mighty  serpent  from  side  to  side  along  a  vast  alluvial 
bottom,  which  in  places  is  more  than  forty  miles  in  width.  On 
the  eastern  bank,  these  great  coils  here  and  there  sweep  up  to 
the  bluffs  of  the  highlands  of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  On 
these  cliffs  are  situated  Memphis,  Port  Hudson,  Grand  Gulf, 
and  Vicksburg.  The  most  important  of  these  from  a  military 
point  of  view  was  Vicksburg,  often  called  the  "  Gibraltar  of 
the  West."  Situated  two  hundred  feet  above  the  current,  on 
a  great  bend  of  the  river,  its  cannon  could  command  the  water 
way  for  miles  in  either  direction,  while  the  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  a  land  approach  were  almost  equally  insurmountable. 

The  Union  arms  had  captured  Xew  Orleans,  in  the  spring 
of  1862,  and  Memphis  in  June  of  that  year;  but  the  Confeder 
ates  still  held  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson  and  the  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  of  river  that  lies  between  them.  The  military 


0f  Utrkaburg  anti  Jtori 


July 
1863 


object  of  the  Federal  armies  in  the  West  was  to  gain  control 
of  the  entire  course  of  the  great  Mississippi  that  it  might  "  roll 
unvexed  to  the  sea,"  to  use  Lincoln's  terse  expression,  and 
that  the  rich  States  of  the  Southwest,  from  which  the  Confed 
eracy  drew  large  supplies  and  thousands  of  men  for  her  armies, 
might  be  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  South.  If  Vicksburg 
were  captured,  Port  Hudson  must  fall.  The  problem,  there 
fore,  was  how  to  get  control  of  Vicksburg. 

On  the  promotion  of  Halleck  to  the  command  of  all  the 
armies  of  the  North,  with  headquarters  at  Washington,  Grant 
was  left  in  superior  command  in  the  West  and  the  great  task 
before  him  was  the  capture  of  the  "  Gibraltar  of  the  West." 
Vicksburg  might  have  been  occupied  by  the  Northern  armies 
at  any  time  during  the  first  half  of  the  year  1862,  but  in  June 
of  that  year  General  Bragg  sent  Van  Dorn  with  a  force  of 
fifteen  thousand  to  occupy  and  fortify  the  heights.  Van  Dorn 
was  a  man  of  prodigious  energy.  In  a  short  time  he  had  hun 
dreds  of  men  at  work  planting  batteries,  digging  rifle-pits 
above  the  water  front  and  in  the  rear  of  the  town,  mounting 
heavy  guns  and  building  bomb-proof  magazines  in  tiers  along 
the  hillsides.  All  through  the  summer,  the  work  progressed 
under  the  direction  of  Engineer  S.  H.  Lockett,  and  by  the 
coming  of  winter  the  city  was  a  veritable  Gibraltar. 

From  the  uncompleted  batteries  on  the  Vicksburg  bluffs, 
the  citizens  and  the  garrison  soldiers  viewed  the  advance  divi 
sion  of  Farragut's  fleet,  under  Commander  Lee,  in  the  river, 
on  May  18,  1862.  Fifteen  hundred  infantry  were  on  board, 
under  command  of  General  Thomas  Williams,  and  with  them 
\  was  a  battery  of  artillery.  Williams  reconnoitered  the  works, 
M  and  finding  them  too  strong  for  his  small  force  he  returned  to 
occupy  Baton  Rouge.  The  authorities  at  Washington  now 
sent  Farragut  peremptory  orders  to  clear  the  Mississippi  and 
accordingly  about  the  middle  of  June,  a  flotilla  of  steamers 
and  seventeen  mortar  schooners,  under  Commander  D.  D.  Por 
ter,  departed  from  New  Orleans  and  steamed  up  the  river. 


BEFORE  VICKSBURG 


The  close-set  mouth,  squared  shoulders  and  lower 
ing  brow  in  this  photograph  of  Grant,  taken  in 
December,  1862,  tell  the  story  of  the  intensity  of 
his  purpose  while  he  was  advancing  upon  Vicks- 
burg — only  to  be  foiled  by  Van  Dorn's  raid  on  his 
line  of  communications  at  Holly  Springs.  His 
grim  expression  and  determined  jaw  betokened  no 
respite  for  the  Confederates,  however.  Six  months 
later  he  marched  into  the  coveted  stronghold. 
This  photograph  was  taken  by  James  Mullen  at 
Oxford,  Mississippi,  in  December,  1862,  just  be 
fore  Van  Dorn's  raid  balked  the  general's  plans. 


AFTER  VICKSBURG 


This  photograph  was  taken  in  the  fall  of  1863, 
after  the  capture  of  the  Confederacy's  Gibraltar 
had  raised  Grant  to  secure  and  everlasting  fame. 
His  attitude  is  relaxed  and  his  eyebrows  no  longer 
mark  a  straight  line  across  the  grim  visage.  The 
right  brow  is  slightly  arched  with  an  almost  jovial 
expression.  But  the  jaw  is  no  less  vigorous  and 
determined,  and  the  steadfast  eyes  seem  to  be 
peering  into  that  future  which  holds  more  vic 
tories.  He  still  has  Chattanooga  and  his  great 
campaigns  in  the  East  to  fight  and  the  final  mag 
nificent  struggle  in  the  trenches  at  Petersburg. 


Simultaneously  Farragut  headed  a  fleet  of  three  war  vessels 
and  seven  gunboats,  carrying  one  hundred  and  six  guns,  toward 
Vicksburg  from  Baton  Rouge.  Many  transports  accompa 
nied  the  ships  from  Baton  Rouge,  on  which  there  were  three 
thousand  of  Williams'  troops. 

The  last  days  of  June  witnessed  the  arrival  of  the  com 
bined  naval  forces  of  Farragut  and  Porter  below  the  Confed 
erate  stronghold.  Williams  immediately  disembarked  his  men 
on  the  Louisiana  shore,  opposite  Vicksburg,  and  they  were  bur 
dened  with  implements  required  in  digging  trenches  and  build 
ing  levees. 

The  mighty  Mississippi,  at  this  point  and  in  those  days, 
swept  in  a  majestic  bend  and  formed  a  peninsula  of  the  west 
ern,  or  Louisiana  shore.  Vicksburg  was  situated  on  the 
eastern,  or  Mississippi  shore,  below  the  top  of  the  bend.  Its 
batteries  of  cannon  commanded  the  river  approach  for  miles 
in  either  direction.  Federal  engineers  quickly  recognized  the 
strategic  position  of  the  citadel  on  the  bluff;  and  also  as  quickly 
saw  a  method  by  which  the  passage  up  and  down  the  river 
could  be  made  comparatively  safe  for  their  vessels,  and  at  the 
same  time  place  Vicksburg  "  high  and  dry  "  by  cutting  a  chan 
nel  for  the  Mississippi  through  the  neck  of  land  that  now  held 
it  in  its  sinuous  course. 

While  Farragut  stormed  the  Confederate  batteries  at 
Vicksburg,  Williams  began  the  tremendous  task  of  diverting 
the  mighty  current  across  the  peninsula.  Farragut's  bom 
bardment  by  his  entire  fleet  failed  to  silence  Vicksburg's  can 
non-guards,  although  the  defenders  likewise  failed  to  stop  the 
progress  of  the  fleet.  The  Federal  naval  commander  then  de 
termined  to  dash  past  the  fortifications,  trusting  to  the  speed 
of  his  vessels  and  the  stoutness  of  their  armor  to  survive  the 
tremendous  cannonade  that  would  fall  upon  his  flotilla.  Early 
in  the  morning  of  June  28th  the  thrilling  race  against  death 
began,  and  after  two  hours  of  terrific  bombardment  aided  by 
the  mortar  boats  stationed  on  both  banks,  Farragut's  fleet  with 


1 


WHERE  GRANT'S  CAMPAIGN  WAS  HALTED 

The  Courthouse  at  Oxford,  Mississippi.  The  second  attempt  to  capture  Vicksburg  originated  with  Grant. 
Since  he  had  sprung  into  fame  at  Fort  Donelson  early  in  1862,  he  had  done  little  to  strengthen  his  reputa 
tion;  but  to  all  urgings  of  his  removal  Lincoln  replied:  "I  can't  spare  this  man;  he  fights."  He  proposed 
to  push  southward  through  Mississippi  to  seize  Jackson,  the  capital.  If  this  could  be  accomplished,  Vicks 
burg  (fifty  miles  to  the  west)  would  become  untenable.  At  Washington  his  plan  was  overruled  to  the 
extent  of  dividing  his  forces.  Sherman,  writh  a  separate  expedition,  was  to  move  from  Memphis  down  the 
Mississippi  directly  against  Yicksburg.  It  was  Grant's  hope  that  by  marching  on  he  could  unite  with 
Sherman  in  an  assault  upon  this  key  to  the  Mississippi.  Pushing  forward  from  Grand  Junction,  sixty 
miles,  Grant  reached  Oxford  December  5,  1862,  but  his  supplies  were  still  drawn  from  Columbus,  Ken 
tucky,  over  a  single-track  road  to  Holly  Springs,  and  thence  by  wragon  over  roads  which  were  rapidly  be 
coming  impassable.  Delay  ensued  in  which  Van  Dorn  destroyed  Federal  stores  at  Holly  Springs  wTorth 
$1,500,000.  This  put  an  end  to  Grant's  advance.  In  the  picture  we  see  an  Illinois  regiment  guarding 
some  of  the  1200  Confederate  prisoners  taken  during  the  advance  and  here  confined  in  the  Courthouse. 


Ij?  <8>teg£0  nf  Utrkalwrg  anft  furl 


•*• 


Jul 


the  exception  of  three  vessels  passed  through  the  raging  in 
ferno  to  the  waters  above  Vicksburg,  with  a  loss  of  fifteen 
killed  and  thirty  wounded.  On  the  1st  of  July  Flag-Officer 
Davis  with  his  river  gunboats  arrived  from  Memphis  and 
joined  Farragut. 

Williams  and  his  men,  including  one  thousand  negroes, 
labored  like  Titans  to  complete  their  canal,  but  a  sudden  rise 
of  the  river  swept  away  the  barriers  with  a  terrific  roar,  and 
the  days  of  herculean  labor  went  for  naught.  Again  Williams' 
attempt  to  subdue  the  stronghold  was  abandoned,  and  he  re 
turned  with  his  men  when  Farragut  did,  on  July  24th,  to  Baton 
Rouge  to  meet  death  there  on  August  5th  when  General  Breck- 
inridge  made  a  desperate  but  unsuccessful  attempt  to  drive  the 
Union  forces  from  the  Louisiana  capital. 

Farragut  urged  upon  General  Halleck  the  importance  of 
occupying  the  city  on  the  bluff  with  a  portion  of  his  army ;  but 
that  general  gave  no  heed ;  and  while  even  then  it  was  too  late 
to  secure  the  prize  without  a  contest,  it  would  have  been  easy 
in  comparison  to  that  which  it  required  a  year  later. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  river  steamers  took  an  important 
part  in  the  preliminary  operations  against  the  city.  Davis  re 
mained  at  Memphis  with  his  fleet  for  about  three  weeks  after 
the  occupation  of  that  city  on  the  6th  of  June,  meanwhile  send 
ing  four  gunboats  and  a  transport  up  the  White  River,  with 
the  Forty-sixth  Indiana  regiment,  under  Colonel  Fitch.  The 
object  of  the  expedition,  undertaken  at  Halleck's  command, 
was  to  destroy  Confederate  batteries  and  to  open  communi 
cation  with  General  Curtis,  who  was  approaching  from  the 
west.  It  failed  in  the  latter  purpose  but  did  some  effective 
work  with  the  Southern  batteries  along  the  way. 

The  one  extraordinary  incident  of  the  expedition  was  the 
disabling  of  the  Mound  City,  one  of  the  ironclad  gunboats, 
and  the  great  loss  of  life  that  it  occasioned.  When  near  St. 
Charles  the  troops  under  Fitch  were  landed,  and  the  Mound 
City  moving  up  the  river,  was  fired  on  by  concealed  batteries 


WHERE  VICKSBURG'S  FATE  WAS  SEALED 


The  Battle-field  of  Champion's  Hill.  Here  on  May  16,  1863, 
Grant  crowned  his  daring  maneuver  against  Vicksburg  from  the 
south  with  complete  success.  Once  across  the  river  below  Grand 
Gulf,  after  an  easy  victory  at  Port  Gibson,  he  was  joined  by 
Sherman.  The  army  struck  out  across  the  strange  country  south 
of  the  Big  Black  River  and  soon  had  driven  Pemberton's  southern 
outposts  across  that  stream.  Grant  was  now  on  solid  ground;  he 
had  successfully  turned  the  flank  of  the  Confederates  and  he 
grasped  the  opportunity  to  strike  a  telling  blow.  Pressing  forward 
to  Raymond  and  Jackson,  he  captured  both,  and  swept  westward 
to  meet  the  astounded  Pemberton,  still  vacillating  between  attempt 
ing  a  junction  with  Johnston  or  attacking  Grant  in  the  rear.  But 
Grant,  moving  with  wonderful  precision,  prevented  either  move 
ment.  On  May  16th  a  battle  ensued  which  was  most  decisive 
around  Champion's  Hill.  Pemberton  was  routed  and  put  to 
flight,  and  on  the  next  day  the  Federals  seized  the  crossings  of  the 
Big  Black  River.  Spiking  their  guns  at  Haynes'  Bluff,  the  Con 
federates  retired  into  Vicksburg,  never  to  come  out  again  except 
as  prisoners.  In  eighteen  days  from  the  time  he  crossed  the 
Mississippi,  Grant  had  gained  the  advantage  for  which  the  Fed 
erals  had  striven  for  more  than  a  year  at  Vicksburg. 


of  Tftrkatwrg 


July 
1863 


under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Dunnington.  A  32-pound 
shot  struck  the  vessel,  crashed  through  the  side  and  passed 
through  the  steam-drum.  The  steam  filled  the  vessel  in  an 
instant.  Many  of  the  men  were  so  quickly  enveloped  in  the 
scalding  vapor  that  they  had  no  chance  to  escape.  Others 
leaped  overboard,  some  being  drowned  and  some  rescued 
through  the  efforts  of  the  Conestoga  which  was  lying  near. 
While  straining  every  nerve  to  save  their  lives,  the  men  had 
to  endure  a  shower  of  bullets  from  Confederate  sharpshooters 
on  the  river  banks.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
officers  and  men  of  the  Mound  City  only  twenty-five  escaped 
death  or  injury  in  that  fearful  catastrophe.  Meanwhile, 
Colonel  Fitch  with  his  land  forces  rushed  upon  the  Confed 
erate  batteries  and  captured  them.  The  unfortunate  vessel  was 
at  length  repaired  and  returned  to  service. 

For  some  time  it  had  been  known  in  Federal  military  and 
naval  circles  that  a  powerful  ironclad  similar  to  the  famous 
Monitor  of  Eastern  waters  was  being  rushed  to  completion  up 
the  Yazoo.  The  new  vessel  was  the  Arkansas.  On  July  15th, 
she  steamed  through  the  Union  fleet,  bravely  exchanging 
broadsides,  and  lodged  safely  under  the  guns  of  Vicksburg. 
That  evening  the  Federal  boats  in  turn  ran  past  the  doughty 
Arkansas,,  but  failed  to  destroy  her. 

The  month  of  July  had  not  been  favorable  to  the  Federal 
hopes.  Farragut  had  returned  to  Xew  Orleans.  General 
Williams  had  gone  with  him  as  far  as  Baton  Rouge.  Davis 
now  went  with  his  fleet  back  to  Helena.  Halleck  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Grant.  Vicksburg  entered  upon  a  period  of  quiet. 

But  this  condition  was  temporary.  The  city's  experience 
of  blood  and  fire  had  only  begun.  During  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1862,  the  one  thought  uppermost  in  the  mind  of 
General  Grant  was  how  to  gain  possession  of  the  stronghold. 
He  was  already  becoming  known  for  his  bull-dog  tenacity. 
In  the  autumn,  two  important  changes  took  place,  but  one 
day  apart.  On  October  14th,  General  John  C.  Pemberton 


I 


THE   BRIDGE   THE   CONFEDERATES  BURNED   AT   BIG   BLACK  RIVER 


or  REVIEWS  co. 


THE   FIRST  FEDERAL  CROSSING— SHERMAN'S  PONTOONS 


The  pursuit  of  Pemberton's  army  brought  McClernand's  Corps  to  the  defenses  of  the  Big  Black  River  Bridge  early  on  May  17,  1863. 
McPherson  was  close  behind.  McClernand's  division  carried  the  defenses  and  Bowen  and  Vaughn's  men  fled  with  precipitate  haste 
over  the  dreary  swamp  to  the  river  and  crossed  over  and  burned  the  railroad  and  other  bridges  just  in  time  to  prevent  McClernand 
from  following.  The  necessary  .delay  was  aggravating  to  Grant's  forces.  The  rest  of  the  day  and  night  was  consumed  in  building 
bridges.  Sherman  had  the  only  pontoon-train  with  the  army  and  his  bridge  was  the  first  ready  at  Bridgeport,  early  in  the  evening. 


of  Utrksburg  auJ*  |tort 


succeeded  Van  Dorn  in  command  of  the  defenses  of  Vicksburg, 
and  on  the  next  day  David  D.  Porter  succeeded  Davis  as  com 
mander  of  the  Federal  fleet  on  the  upper  Mississippi. 

So  arduous  was  the  task  of  taking  Vicksburg  that  the 
wits  of  General  Grant,  and  those  of  his  chief  adviser,  General 
W.  T.  Sherman,  were  put  to  the  test  in  the  last  degree  to 
accomplish  the  end.  Grant  knew  that  the  capture  of  this  for 
tified  city  was  of  great  importance  to  the  Federal  cause,  and 
that  it  would  ever  be  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  chief  acts  in 
the  drama  of  the  Civil  War. 

The  first  plan  attempted  was  to  divide  the  army,  Sherman 
taking  part  of  it  from  Memphis  and  down  the  Mississippi  on 
transports,  while  Grant  should  move  southward  along  the  line 
of  the  Mississippi  Central  Railroad  to  cooperate  with  Sherman, 
his  movements  to  be  governed  by  the  efforts  of  the  scattered 
Confederate  forces  in  Mississippi  to  block  him.  But  the  whole 
plan  was  destined  to  failure,  through  the  energies  of  General 
Van  Dorn  and  others  of  the  Confederate  army  near  Grant's 
line  of  communication. 

The  authorities  at  Washington  preferred  the  river  move 
upon  Vicksburg,  as  the  navy  could  keep  the  line  of  communi 
cation  open.  The  stronghold  now  stood  within  a  strong  line 
of  defense  extending  from  Haynes'  Bluff  on  the  Yazoo  to 
Grand  Gulf  on  the  Mississippi,  thirty  miles  below  Vicksburg. 
To  prepare  for  Sherman's  attack  across  the  swamps  of  the 
Yazoo,  Admiral  Porter  made  several  expeditions  up  that  tor 
tuous  stream  to  silence  batteries  and  remove  torpedoes.  In 
one  of  these  he  lost  one  of  the  Eads  ironclads,  the  Cairo, 
blown  up  by  a  torpedo,  and  in  another  the  brave  Commander 
Gwin,  one  of  the  heroes  of  Shiloh,  was  mortally  wounded. 

Sherman,  with  an  army  of  thirty-two  thousand  men,  left 
Memphis  on  December  20th,  and  landed  a  few  days  later  some 
miles  north  of  Vicksburg  on  the  banks  of  the  Yazoo.  On  the 
29th  he  made  a  daring  attack  in  three  columns  on  the  Con 
federate  lines  of  defense  at  Chickasaw  Bayou  and  suffered  a 


I 


ii 


THE  GATE  TO  THE   MISSISSIPPI 

The  handwriting  is  that  of  Surgeon  Bixby,  of  the  Union  hospital  ship  "Red  Rover."  In  his  album  he  pasted  this  unique 
photograph  from  the  western  shore  of  the  river  where  the  Federal  guns  and  mortars  threw  a  thousand  shells  into  Vicksburg 
during  the  siege.  The  prominent  building  is  the  courthouse,  the  chief  landmark  during  the  investment.  Here  at  Vicksburg 
the  Confederates  were  making  their  last  brave  stand  for  the  possession  of  the  Mississippi  River,  that  great  artery  of 
traffic.  If  it  were  wrested  from  them  the  main  source  of  their  supplies  would  be  cut  off.  Pemberton,  a  brave  and  capable 
officer  and  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  worked  unremittingly  for  the  cause  he  had  espoused.  Warned  by  the  early  attacks 
of  General  Williams  and  Admiral  Farragut,  he  had  left  no  stone  unturned  to  render  Vicksburg  strongly  defended.  It  had 
proved  impregnable  to  attack  on  the  north  and  east,  and  the  powerful  batteries  planted  on  the  river-front  could  not  be 
silenced  by  the  fleet  nor  by  the  guns  of  the  Federals  on  the  opposite  shore.  But  Grant's  masterful  maneuver  of  cutting 
loose  from  his  base  and  advancing  from  the  south  had  at  last  out-generaled  both  Pemberton  and  Johnston.  Nevertheless, 
Pemberton  stoutly  held  his  defenses.  His  high  river-battery  is  photographed  below,  as  it  frowned  upon  the  Federals  opposite. 


0f  Utrkaburg 


decisive  repulse.  His  loss  was  nearly  two  thousand  men;  the 
Confederate  loss  was  scarcely  two  hundred. 

Two  hundred  feet  above  the  bayou,  beyond  where  the  Fed 
erals  were  approaching,  towered  the  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  to 
which  Pemberton  hastened  troops  from  Vicksburg  as  soon  as 
he  learned  Sherman's  object.  At  the  base  of  the  bluff,  and 
stretching  away  to  the  north  and  west  were  swamps  and  forests 
intersected  by  deep  sloughs,  overhung  with  dense  tangles  of 
vines  and  cane-brakes.  Federal  valor  vied  with  Confederate 
pluck  in  this  fight  among  the  marshes  and  fever-infested 
jungle-land. 

One  of  Sherman's  storming  parties,  under  General  G.  W. 
Morgan,  came  upon  a  broad  and  deep  enlargement  of  the 
bayou,  McNutt  Lake,  which  interposed  between  it  and  the 
Confederates  in  the  rifle-pits  on  the  slopes  and  crest  of  the  bluff. 
In  the  darkness  of  the  night  of  December  28th,  the  Federal 
pontoniers  labored  to  construct  a  passage-way  across  the  lake. 
When  morning  dawned  the  weary  pontoniers  were  chagrined 
to  discover  their  well-built  structure  spanning  a  slough  lead 
ing  in  another  direction  than  toward  the  base  of  the  bluff.  The 
bridge  was  quickly  taken  up,  and  the  Federals  recommenced 
their  labors,  this  time  in  daylight  and  within  sight  and  range 
of  the  Southern  regiments  on  the  hill.  The  men  in  blue  worked 
desperately  to  complete  the  span  before  driven  away  by  the 
foe's  cannon ;  but  the  fire  increased  with  every  minute,  and  the 
Federals  finally  withdrew. 

Another  storming  party  attempted  to  assail  the  Confed 
erates  from  across  a  sandbar  of  the  bayou,  but  was  halted  at 
the  sight  and  prospect  of  overcoming  a  fifteen-foot  bank  on 
the  farther  side.  The  crumbling  bank  was  surmounted  with 
a  levee  three  feet  high ;  the  steep  sides  of  the  barrier  had  crum 
bled  away,  leaving  an  overhanging  shelf,  two  feet  wide.  Two 
companies  of  the  Sixth  Missouri  regiment  volunteered  to  cross 
the  two  hundred  yards  of  exposed  passage,  and  to  cut  a  road 
way  through  the  rotten  bank  to  allow  their  comrades  a  free 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   REVIEW   OF    REVIEWS  CO. 


THE   WELL-DEFENDED   CITADEL 


Behind  these  fortifications  Pemberton,  driven  from  the  Big  Black  River,  gathered  his  twenty-one  thousand  troops  to  make  the  last 
stand  for  the  saving  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Confederacy.  In  the  upper  picture  we  see  Fort  Castle,  one  of  the  strongest  defenses  of 
the  Confederacy.  It  had  full  sweep  of  the  river;  here  "Whistling  Dick"  (one  of  the  most  powerful  guns  in  possession  of  the  South) 
did  deadly  work.  In  the  lower  picture  we  see  the  fortifications  to  the  east  of  the  town,  before  which  Grant's  army  was  now  entrench 
ing.  When  Vicksburg  had  first  been  threatened  in  1862,  the  Confederate  fortifications  had  been  laid  out  and  work  begun  on  them 
in  haste  with  but  five  hundred  spades,  many  of  the  soldiers  delving  with  their  bayonets.  The  sites  were  so  well  chosen  and  the  work 
so  well  done  that  they  had  withstood  attacks  for  a  year.  They  were  to  hold  out  still  longer.  By  May  18th  the  Federals  had  com 
pletely  invested  Vicksburg,  and  Grant  and  Sherman  rode  out  to  Haynes'  Bluff  to  view  the  open  river  to  the  north,  down  which  abun 
dant  supplies  were  now  coming  for  the  army.  Sherman,  who  had  not  believed  that  the  plan  could  succeed,  frankly  acknowledged 
his  mistake.  But  the  Mississippi  was  not  yet  theirs.  Sherman,  assaulting  the  fortifications  of  Vicksburg,  the  next  day,  was  re 
pulsed.  A  second  attack,  on  the  22d,  failed  and  on  the  25th  Grant  settled  down  to  starve  Pemberton  out. 


0f  Btrkatmrg  anb  ftart 


July 
1863 


path  to  the  bluff  beyond.  To  add  to  the  peril  of  the  cross 
ing,  the  sandbar  was  strewn  with  tangles  of  undergrowth  and 
fallen  trees,  and  the  Confederate  shells  and  bullets  were  rain 
ing  upon  the  ground.  Still,  the  gallant  troops  began  their 
dash.  From  the  very  start,  a  line  of  wounded  and  dead  Mis- 
sourians  marked  the  passage  of  the  volunteers.  The  survivors 
reached  the  bank  and  desperately  sought  to  dig  the  roadway. 
From  the  shrubbery  on  the  bank  suddenly  appeared  Confed 
erate  sharpshooters  who  poured  their  fire  into  the  laboring 
soldiers;  the  flame  of  the  discharging  muskets  burned  the 
clothing  of  the  Federals  because  the  hostile  forces  were  so  close. 
Human  endurance  could  not  stand  before  this  carnage,  and  the 
brave  Missourians  fled  from  the  inferno.  Sherman  now  found 
the  northern  pathway  to  Vicksburg  impassable,  and  withdrew 
his  men  to  the  broad  Mississippi. 

Earlier  in  the  same  month  had  occurred  two  other  events 
which,  with  the  defeat  of  Chickasaw,  go  to  make  up  the  triple 
disaster  to  the  Federals.  On  the  llth,  General  Nathan  For 
rest,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  cavalry  leaders  on  either  side, 
began  one  of  those  destructive  raids  which  characterize  the  Civil 
War.  With  tw7enty-five  hundred  horsemen,  Forrest  dashed 
unopposed  through  the  country  north  of  Grant's  army,  tore 
up  sixty  miles  of  railroad  and  destroyed  all  telegraph  lines. 

Meantime,  on  December  20th,  the  day  on  which  Sherman 
left  Memphis,  General  Van  Dorn  pounced  upon  Holly 
Springs,  in  Mississippi,  like  an  eagle  on  its  prey,  capturing 
the  guard  of  fifteen  hundred  men  and  burning  the  great  store 
of  supplies,  wTorth  $1,500,000,  which  Grant  had  left  there. 
Through  the  raids  of  Forrest  and  Van  Dorn,  Grant  was  left 
without  supplies  and  for  eleven  days  without  communication 
with  the  outside  world.  He  marched  northward  to  Grand 
Junction,  in  Tennessee,  a  distance  of  eighty  miles,  living  off 
the  country.  It  was  not  until  January  8,  1863,  that  he  heard, 
through  Washington,  of  the  defeat  of  Sherman  in  his  assault 
on  Chickasaw  Bluffs. 


'//W 


,    REVIEW   OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


THE   WORK  OF  THE  BESIEGERS 


Battery  Sherman,  on  the  Jackson  Road,  before  Vicksburg.  Settling  down  to  a  siege  did  not  mean  idleness 
for  Grant's  army.  Fortifications  had  to  be  opposed  to  the  formidable  one  of  the  Confederates  and  a  con 
stant  bombardment  kept  up  to  silence  their  guns,  one  by  one.  It  was  to  be  a  drawn-out  duel  in  which 
Pemberton,  hoping  for  the  long-delayed  relief  from  Johnston,  held  out  bravely  against  starvation  and  even 
mutiny.  For  twelve  miles  the  Federal  lines  stretched  around  Vicksburg,  investing  it  to  the  river  bank, 
north  and  south.  More  than  eighty-nine  battery  positions  were  constructed  by  the  Federals.  Battery 
Sherman  was  exceptionally  well  built — not  merely  revetted  with  rails  or  cotton-bales  and  floored  with 
rough  timber,  as  lack  of  proper  material  often  made  necessary.  Gradually  the  lines  were  drawn  closer  and 
closer  as  the  Federals  moved  up  their  guns  to  silence  the  works  that  they  had  failed  to  take  in  May.  At 
the  time  of  the  surrender  Grant  had  more  than  220  guns  in  position,  mostly  of  heavy  caliber.  By  the 
1st  of  July  besieged  and  besiegers  faced  each  other  at  a  distance  of  half-pistol  shot.  Starving  and  ravaged 
by  disease,  the  Confederates  had  repelled  repeated  attacks  which  depleted  their  forces,  while  Grant,  re- 
enforced  to  three  times  their  number,  was  showered  with  supplies  and  ammunition  that  he  might  bring 
about  the  long-delayed  victory  which  the  North  had  been  eagerly  awaiting  since  Chancellor  sville. 


nf  Btrkaburg  anft  Itort 


Grant  and  Sherman  had  no  thought  of  abandoning  Vicks- 
burg  because  of  this  failure.  But  a  month  of  unfortunate  mili 
tary  dissension  over  rank  in  the  command  of  Sherman's  army 
resulted  in  General  John  A.  McClernand,  armed  with  author 
ity  from  Washington,  coming  down  from  Illinois  and  super 
seding  Sherman.  On  January  11, 1864,  he  captured  Arkansas 
Post,  a  stronghold  on  the  Arkansas  River.  But  Grant,  having 
authority  to  supersede  McClernand  in  the  general  proceedings 
against  Vicksburg,  did  so,  on  January  30th,  and  arguments 
on  military  precedence  were  forgotten. 

Grant  was  determined  to  lead  his  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
below  Vicksburg  arid  approach  the  city  from  the  south,  with 
out  breaking  with  his  base  of  supplies  up  the  river.  Two  proj 
ects,  both  of  which  were  destined  to  fail,  were  under  way  dur 
ing  the  winter  and  spring  months  of  1863.  One  of  these  was 
to  open  a  way  for  the  river  craft  through  Lake  Providence, 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  through  various  bayous  and  rivers  into 
the  Red  River,  a  detour  of  four  hundred  miles. 

Another  plan  was  to  cut  a  channel  through  the  peninsula 
of  the  great  bend  of  the  Mississippi,  opposite  Vicksburg.  For 
six  weeks,  thousands  of  men  worked  like  marmots  digging 
this  ditch;  but,  meantime,  the  river  was  rising  and,  on  March 
8th,  it  broke  over  the  embankment  and  the  men  had  to  run  for 
their  lives.  Many  horses  were  drowned  and  a  great  number 
of  implements  submerged.  The  "  Father  of  Waters  "  had  put 
a  decisive  veto  on  the  project  and  it  had  to  be  given  up.  Still 
another  plan  that  failed  was  to  cut  through  the  Yazoo  Pass 
and  approach  from  the  north  by  way  of  the  Coldwater,  the 
Tallahatchie,  and  the  Yazoo  rivers. 

Failure  with  Grant  only  increased  his  grim  determination. 
He  would  take  Vicksburg.  His  next  plan  was  destined  to 
bring  success.  It  was  to  transfer  his  army  by  land  down 
the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  to  a  point  below  the  city 
and  approach  it  from  the  south  and  west.  This  necessitated 
the  running  of  the  batteries  by  Porter's  fleet — an  extremely 


w 


INVESTING  BY  INCHES 

Logan's  Division  undermining  the  most  formidable  redoubt  in  the  defenses  of  Vicksburg.  The  position 
was  immediately  in  front  of  this  honeycombed  slope  on  the  Jackson  road.  Upon  these  troops  fell  most 
of  the  labor  of  sapping  and  mining,  which  finally  resulted  in  the  wrecking  of  the  fort  so  gallantly  de 
fended  by  the  veterans  of  the  Third  Louisiana.  As  the  Federal  lines  crept  up,  the  men  working  night 
and  day  were  forced  to  live  in  burrows.  They  became  proficient  in  such  gopher  work  as  the  picture  shows. 
Up  to  the  "White  House"  (Shirley's)  the  troops  could  be  marched  in  comparative  safety,  but  a  short  dis 
tance  beyond  they  were  exposed  to  the  Confederate  sharpshooters,  who  had  only  rifles  and  muskets  to 
depend  on;  their  artillery  had  long  since  been  silenced.  Near  this  house  was  constructed  "Coonskin's" 
Tower;  it  was  built  of  railway  iron  and  cross-ties  under  the  direction  of  Second  Lieutenant  Henry  C.  Foster, 
of  Company  B,  Twenty-third  Indiana.  A  backwoodsman  and  dead-shot,  he  was  particularly  active  in 
paying  the  Confederate  sharpshooters  in  their  own  coin.  He  habitually  wore  a  cap  of  raccoon  fur,  which  gave 
him  his  nickname  and  christened  the  tower,  from  which  the  interior  of  the  Confederate  works  could  be  seen. 


nf  Btrk0tmrg 


perilous  enterprise.  The  army  was  divided  into  four  corps, 
commanded  respectively  by  Sherman,  McClernand,  McPher- 
son,  and  Hurlbut.  The  latter  was  stationed  at  Memphis.  On 
March  29th,  the  movement  of  McClernand  from  Milliken's 
Bend  to  a  point  opposite  Grand  Gulf  was  begun.  He  was 
soon  followed  by  McPherson  and  a  few  weeks  later  by  Sher 
man.  It  required  a  month  for  the  army,  with  its  heavy  artil 
lery,  to  journey  through  the  swamps  and  bogs  of  Louisiana. 

While  this  march  was  in  progress,  something  far  more 
exciting  was  taking  place  on  the  river.  Porter  ran  the  bat 
teries  of  Vicksburg  with  his  fleet.  After  days  of  preparation 
the  fleet  of  vessels,  protected  by  cotton  bales  and  hay  about 
the  vital  parts  of  the  boats,  with  heavy  logs  slung  near  the 
water-line — seven  gunboats,  the  ram  General  Price,  three 
transports,  and  various  barges  were  ready  for  the  dangerous 
journey  on  the  night  of  April  16th.  Silently  in  the  darkness, 
they  left  their  station  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  at  a  quarter 
past  nine.  For  an  hour  and  a  half  all  was  silence  and  expect 
ancy.  The  bluffs  on  the  east  loomed  black  against  the  night 
sky.  Suddenly,  the  flash  of  musketry  fire  pierced  the  darkness. 

In  a  few  minutes  every  battery  overlooking  the  river  was  a 
center  of  spurting  flame.  A  storm  of  shot  and  shell  was  rained 
upon  the  passing  vessels.  Not  one  escaped  being  struck  many 
times.  The  water  of  the  river  was  lashed  into  foam  by  the 
shots  and  shell  from  the  batteries.  The  gunboats  answered 
with  their  cannon.  The  air  was  filled  with  flying  missiles. 
Several  houses  on  the  Louisiana  shore  burst  into  flame  and  the 
whole  river  from  shore  to  shore  was  lighted  with  vivid  distinct 
ness.  A  little  later,  a  giant  flame  leaped  from  the  bosom  of  the 
river.  A  vessel  had  caught  fire.  It  was  the  transport  Henry 
Clay.  It  burned  to  the  wrater's  edge,  nearly  all  its  crew  escap 
ing  to  other  vessels.  Grant  described  the  scene  as  "  magnifi 
cent,  but  terrible";  Sherman  pronounced  it  "truly  sublime." 

By  three  in  the  morning,  the  fleet  was  below  the  city 
and  ready  to  cooperate  with  the  army.  One  vessel  had  been 


July 
1 863 


THE   FIRST   MONUMENT  AT  THE   MEETING   PLACE 

Independence  Day,  1863,  was  a  memorable  anniversary  of  the  nation's  birth;  it  brought  to  the  anxious  North  the 
momentous  news  that  Meade  had  won  at  Gettysburg  and  that  Vicksburg  had  fallen  in  the  West.  The  marble  shaft 
in  the  picture  was  erected  to  mark  the  spot  where  Grant  and  Pemberton  met  on  July  3d  to  confer  about  the  sur 
render.  Under  a  tree,  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  the  Confederate  lines,  Grant  greeted  his  adversary  as  an  old 
acquaintance.  They  had  fought  in  the  same  division  for  a  time  in  the  Mexican  War.  Each  spoke  but  two 
sentences  as  to  the  surrender,  for  Grant  lived  up  to  the  nickname  he  gained  at  Donelson,  and  Pemberton's  pride 
was  hurt.  The  former  comrades  walked  and  talked  awhile  on  other  things,  and  then  returned  to  their  lines.  Next 
day  the  final  terms  were  arranged  by  correspondence,  and  the  Confederates  marched  out  with  colors  flying;  they 
stacked  their  arms  and,  laying  their  colors  upon  them,  marched  back  into  the  city  to  be  paroled.  Those  who 
signed  the  papers  not  to  fight  until  exchanged  numbered  29,391.  The  tree  where  the  commanders  met  was  soon 
carried  away,  root  and  branch,  by  relic-hunters.  Subsequently  the  monument  which  replaced  it  was  chipped 
gradually  into  bits,  and  in  1866  a  64-pounder  cannon  took  its  place  as  a  permanent  memorial. 


VICKSBURG  IN  POSSESSION  OF  THE   FEDERALS 


destroyed,  several  others  were  crippled ;  thirteen  men  had  been 
wounded,  but  Grant  had  the  assistance  he  needed.  About  a 
week  later,  six  more  transports  performed  the  same  feat  and 
ran  the  batteries;  each  had  two  barges  laden  with  forage  and 
rations  in  tow. 

Grant's  next  move  was  to  transfer  the  army  across  the 
river  and  to  secure  a  base  of  supplies.  There,  on  the  bluff, 
was  Grand  Gulf,  a  tempting  spot.  But  the  Confederate  guns 
showed  menacingly  over  the  brow  of  the  hill.  After  a  fruit 
less  bombardment  by  the  fleet  on  April  29th,  it  was  decided 
that  a  more  practical  place  to  cross  the  river  must  be  sought 
below. 

Meanwhile,  Sherman  was  ordered  by  his  chief  to  advance 
upon  the  formidable  Haynes'  Bluff,  on  the  Yazoo  River,  some 
miles  above  the  scene  of  his  repulse  in  the  preceding  December. 
The  message  had  said,  "  Make  a  demonstration  on  Haynes' 
Bluff,  and  make  all  the  show  possible."  Sherman's  transports, 
and  three  of  Porter's  gunboats,  were  closely  followed  by  the 
Confederate  soldiers  who  had  been  stationed  at  the  series  of  de 
fenses  on  the  range  of  hills,  and  when  they  arrived  at  Snyder's 
Mill,  just  below  Haynes'  Bluff,  on  April  30th,  General  Hebert 
and  several  Louisiana  regiments  were  awaiting  them.  On  that 
day  arid  the  next  the  Confederates  fiercely  engaged  the  Union 
fleet  and  troops,  and  on  May  2d  Sherman  withdrew  his  forces 
to  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi  and  hastened  to  Grant. 
The  feint  had  been  most  successful.  The  Confederates  had 
been  prevented  from  sending  reenforcements  to  Grand  Gulf, 
and  Grant's  crossing  was  greatly  facilitated. 

The  fleet  passed  the  batteries  of  Grand  Gulf  and  stopped 
at  Bruinsburg,  six  miles  below.  A  landing  was  soon  made, 
the  army  taken  across  on  April  30th,  and  a  march  to  Port 
Gibson,  twelve  miles  inland,  was  begun.  General  Bowen,  Con 
federate  commander  at  Grand  Gulf,  came  out  and  offered 
battle.  He  was  greatly  outnumbered,  but  his  troops  fought 
gallantly  throughout  most  of  the  day,  May  1st,  before  yielding 


A   VIGILANT  PATROLLER— THE   "SILVER  LAKE 


In  the  picture  the  "Silver  Lake"  is  lying  off  Vicksburg  after  its  fall.  While  Admiral  Porter  was  busy 
attacking  Vicksburg  with  the  Mississippi  squadron,  Lieutenant-Commander  Le  Roy  Fitch,  with  a  few  small 
gunboats,  was  actively  patrolling  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  Rivers.  It  was  soon  seen  that  the  hold 
upon  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  gained  by  the  Federals  by  the  fall  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson  would  be 
lost  without  adequate  assistance  from  the  navy,  and  Admiral  Porter  was  authorized  to  purchase  small 
light-draft  river  steamers  and  add  them  to  Fitch's  flotilla  as  rapidly  as  they  could  be  converted  into  gun 
boats.  One  of  the  first  to  be  completed  was  the  "Silver  Lake."  The  little  stern-wheel  steamer  first  dis 
tinguished  herself  on  February  3,  1863,  at  Dover,  Tennessee,  where  she  (with  Fitch's  flotilla)  assisted  in 
routing  4,500  Confederates,  who  were  attacking  the  Federals  at  that  place.  The  little  vessel  continued  to 
render  yeoman's  service  with  the  other  gunboats,  ably  assisted  by  General  A.  W.  Ellet's  marine  brigade. 


0f 


JJnrt 


•*• 


July 
1863 


the  field.  Port  Gibson  was  then  occupied  by  the  Union  army, 
and  Grand  Gulf,  no  longer  tenable,  was  abandoned  by  the 
Confederates. 

Grant  now  prepared  for  a  campaign  into  the  interior  of 
Mississippi.  His  first  intention  was  to  cooperate  with  General 
Banks  in  the  capture  of  Port  Hudson,  after  which  they  would 
move  together  upon  Vicksburg.  But  hearing  that  Banks 
would  not  arrive  for  ten  days,  Grant  decided  that  he  would 
proceed  to  the  task  before  him  without  delay.  His  army  at 
that  time  numbered  about  forty-three  thousand.  That  under 
Pemberton  probably  forty  thousand,  while  there  were  fifteen 
thousand  Confederate  troops  at  Jackson,  Mississippi,  soon  to 
be  commanded  by  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  was  has 
tening  to  that  capital. 

The  Federal  leader  now  determined  on  the  bold  plan 
of  making  a  dash  into  the  interior  of  Mississippi,  beating  John 
ston  and  turning  on  Pemberton  before  their  forces  could  be 
joined.  This  campaign  is  pronounced  the  most  brilliant  in 
the  Civil  War.  It  was  truly  Napoleonic  in  conception  and 
execution.  Grant  knew  that  his  base  of  supplies  at  Grand 
Gulf  would  be  cut  off  by  Pemberton  as  soon  as  he  moved 
away  from  it.  He  decided,  therefore,  against  the  advice  of 
his  generals,  to  abandon  his  base  altogether. 

A  more  daring  undertaking  could  scarcely  be  imagined. 
With  a  few  days'  rations  in  their  haversacks  the  troops  were 
to  make  a  dash  that  would  possibly  take  several  weeks  into  the 
heart  of  a  hostile  country.  This  was  certainly  defying  fate. 
When  General  Halleck  heard  of  Grant's  daring  scheme  he 
wired  the  latter  from  Washington,  ordering  him  to  move  his 
army  down  the  river  and  cooperate  with  Banks.  Fortunately, 
this  order  was  received  too  late  to  interfere  with  Grant's  plans. 

As  soon  as  Sherman's  divisions  joined  the  main  army  the 
march  was  begun,  on  May  7th.  An  advance  of  this  character 
must  be  made  with  the  greatest  celerity  and  Grant's  army 
showed  amazing  speed.  McPherson,  who  commanded  the  right 


I 


9 


I  // 

i// 


•// 


w 


'//W 


9 


THE  CONFEDERACY  CUT  IN  TWAIN 


The  Levee  at  Vicksburg,  February,  1864.  For  seven  months  the  Federals  had  been  in  possession  of  the  city,  and  the  Mississippi — 
now  open  through  its  entire  course — cut  off  the  struggling  Confederacy  in  the  East  from  the  South  and  Southwest,  the  storehouses  of 
their  resources  and  their  main  dependence  in  continuing  the  struggle.  But  even  such  a  blow  as  this,  coming  on  top  of  Gettysburg, 
did  not  force  the  brave  people  of  the  South  to  give  up  the  struggle.  In  the  picture  the  only  remaining  warlike  signs  are  the  tents 
on  the  opposite  shore.  But  on  both  sides  of  the  river  the  Confederates  were  still  desperately  striving  to  reunite  their  territory.  In 
the  East  another  year  and  more  of  the  hardest  kind  of  fighting  was  ahead ;  another  severing  in  twain  of  the  South  was  inevitable  before 
peace  could  come,  and  before  the  muskets  could  be  used  to  shoot  the  crows,  and  before  their  horses  could  plough  the  neglected  fields. 


Utrksbttrg  anb  ftort 


wing,  proceeded  toward  Jackson  by  way  of  Raymond  and  at 
the  latter  place  encountered  five  thousand  Confederates,  on 
May  12th,  who  blocked  his  way  and  were  prepared  for  fight. 
The  battle  of  Raymond  lasted  two  hours.  McPherson  was 
completely  successful  and  the  Confederates  hastened  to  join 
their  comrades  in  Jackson. 

McPherson  lost  no  time.  He  moved  on  toward  Jackson, 
and  as  the  last  of  his  command  left  Raymond  the  advance  of 
Sherman's  corps  reached  it.  That  night,  May  13th,  Grant 
ordered  McPherson  and  Sherman  to  march  upon  Jackson  next 
morning  by  different  roads,  while  McClernand  was  held  in  the 
rear  near  enough  to  reenforce  either  in  case  of  need.  The  rain 
fell  in  torrents  that  night  and,  as  Grant  reported,  in  places 
the  water  was  a  foot  deep  in  the  road.  But  nothing  could 
daunt  his  determined  army.  At  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing  of  the  14th,  a  concerted  attack  was  made  on  the  capital 
of  Mississippi.  A  few  hours'  brisk  fighting  concluded  this  act 
of  the  drama,  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  unfurled  on  the 
State  capitol.  Among  the  spoils  were  seventeen  heavy  guns. 
That  night,  Grant  slept  in  the  house  which  Johnston  had  occu 
pied  the  night  before. 

Meantime,  Johnston  had  ordered  Pemberton  to  detain 
Grant  by  attacking  him  in  the  rear.  But  Pemberton  consid 
ered  it  more  advisable  to  move  toward  Grand  Gulf  to  separate 
Grant  from  his  base  of  supplies,  not  knowing  that  Grant  had 
abandoned  his  base.  And  now,  with  Johnston's  army  scat 
tered,  Grant  left  Sherman  to  burn  bridges  and  military  fac 
tories,  and  to  tear  up  the  railroads  about  Jackson  while  he 
turned  fiercely  on  Pemberton.  McPherson's  corps  took  the 
lead.  Grant  called  on  McClernand  to  follow  without  delay. 
Then,  hearing  that  Pemberton  was  marching  toward  him,  he 
called  on  Sherman  to  hasten  from  Jackson.  At  Champion's 
Hill  (Baker's  Creek)  Pemberton  stood  in  the  way,  with 
eighteen  thousand  men. 

The   battle   was    soon   in   progress — the   heaviest   of   the 


v~\ 


WITHIN    THE    PARAPET    AT    PORT 

HUDSON   IN  THE  SUMMER 

OF  1863 

These  fortifications  withstood  every  attack  of 
Banks'  powerful  army  from  May  24  to  July 
9,  1863.  Like  Vicksburg,  Port  Hudson  could 
be  reduced  only  by  a  weary  siege.  These 
pictures,  taken  within  the  fortifications,  show 
in  the  distance  the  ground  over  which  the 
investing  army  approached  to  the  two  un 
successful  grand  assaults  they  made  upon  the 
Confederate  defenders.  The  strength  of  the 
works  is  apparent.  A  continuous  line  of 
parapet,  equally  strong,  had  been  thrown  up 
for  the  defense  of  Port  Hudson,  surrounding 
the  town  for  a  distance  of  three  miles  and 
more,  each  end  terminating  on  the  river- 
bank.  Four  powerful  forts  were  located  at 
the  salients,  and  the  line  throughout  was 
defended  by  thirty  pieces  of  field  artillery. 
Brigadier-General  Beall,  who  commanded 
the  post  in  1862,  constructed  these  works. 
Major-General  Frank  Gardner  succeeded 
him  in  command  at  the  close  of  the  year. 


THE    WELL-DEFENDED    WORKS 


Gardner  was  behind  these  defenses  with  a 
garrison  of  about  seven  thousand  when 
Banks  approached  Port  Hudson  for  the 
second  time  on  May  24th.  Gardner  was 
under  orders  to  evacuate  the  place  and  join 
his  force  to  that  of  Johnston  at  Jackson, 
Mississippi,  but  the  courier  who  brought  the 
order  arrived  at  the  very  hour  when  Banks 
began  to  bottle  up  the  Confederates.  On  the 
morning  of  May  25th  Banks  drove  in  the 
Confederate  skirmishers  and  outposts  and, 
with  an  army  of  thirty  thousand,  invested 
the  fortifications  from  the  eastward.  At 
10  A.M.,  after  an  artillery  duel  of  more  than 
four  hours,  the  Federals  advanced  to  the 
assault  of  the  works.  Fighting  in  a  dense 
forest  of  magnolias,  amid  thick  undergrowth 
and  among  ravines  choked  with  felled  timber, 
the  progress  of  the  troops  was  too  slow  for  a 
telling  attack.  The  battle  has  been  described 
as  "a  gigantic  bushwhack."  The  Federals 
at  the  center  reached  the  ditch  in  front  of  the 
Confederate  works  but  were  driven  off.  At 
nightfall  the  attempt  was  abandoned.  It 
had  cost  Banks  nearly  two  thousand  men. 


CONFEDERATE   FORTIFICATIONS   BEFORE   PORT  HUDSON 


campaign.  It  continued  for  seven  or  eight  hours.  The  Con 
federates  were  defeated  with  a  loss  of  nearly  all  their  artillery 
and  about  half  their  force,  including  four  thousand  men  who 
were  cut  off  from  the  main  army  and  failed  to  rejoin  it.  On 
the  banks  of  the  Big  Black  River,  a  few  miles  westward,  the 
Confederates  made  another  stand,  and  here  the  fifth  battle  of 
the  investment  of  Vicksburg  took  place.  It  was  short,  sharp, 
decisive.  The  Confederates  suffered  heavy  losses  and  the  re 
mainder  hastened  to  the  defenses  of  Vicksburg.  They  had  set 
fire  to  the  bridge  across  the  Big  Black,  and  Grant's  army  was 
detained  for  a  day — until  the  Confederates  were  safely  lodged 
in  the  city. 

The  Federal  army  now  invested  Vicksburg,  occupying  the 
surrounding  hills.  It  was  May  18th  when  the  remarkable 
campaign  to  reach  Vicksburg  came  to  an  end.  In  eighteen 
days,  the  army  had  marched  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles 
through  a  hostile  country,  fought  and  won  five  battles,  cap 
tured  a  State  capital,  had  taken  twenty-seven  heavy  cannon 
and  sixty  field-pieces,  and  had  slain  or  wounded  six  thousand 
men  and  captured  as  many  more.  As  Grant  and  Sherman 
rode  out  on  the  hill  north  of  the  city,  the  latter  broke  into 
enthusiastic  admiration  of  his  chief,  declaring  that  up  to  that 
moment  he  had  felt  no  assurance  of  success,  and  pronouncing 
the  campaign  one  of  the  greatest  in  history. 

The  great  problem  of  investing  Vicksburg  was  solved  at 
last.  Around  the  doomed  city  gleamed  the  thousands  of  bayo 
nets  of  the  Union  army.  The  inhabitants  and  the  army  that 
had  fled  to  it  as  a  city  of  refuge  were  penned  in.  But  the  Con 
federacy  was  not  to  yield  without  a  stubborn  resistance.  On 
May  19th,  an  advance  was  made  on  the  works  and  the  besieg 
ing  lines  drew  nearer  and  tightened  their  coils.  Three  days 
later,  on  May  22nd,  Grant  ordered  a  grand  assault  by  his 
whole  army.  The  troops,  flushed  with  their  victories  of  the 
past  three  weeks,  were  eager  for  the  attack.  All  the  corps 
commanders  set  their  watches  by  Grant's  in  order  to  begin 


THE  GUX   THAT   FOOLED   THE  FEDERALS 


A  "Quaker  gun"  that  was  mounted  by  the  Confederates 
in  the  fortifications  on  the  bluff  at  the  river-front  before 
Port  Hudson.  This  gun  was  hewn  out  of  a  pine  log  and 
mounted  on  a  carriage,  and  a  black  ring  was  painted 
around  the  end  facing  the  river.  Throughout  the  siege  it 
was  mistaken  by  the  Federals  for  a  piece  of  real  ordnance. 


To  such  devices  as  this  the  beleaguered  garrison  was  com 
pelled  constantly  to  resort  in  order  to  impress  the  superior 
forces  investing  Port  Hudson  with  the  idea  that  the  posi 
tion  they  sought  to  capture  was  formidably  defended.  The 
ruse  was  effective.  Port  Hudson  was  not  again  attacked 
from  the  river  after  the  passing  of  Farragut's  two  ships. 


WITHIN   "THE   CITADEL" 


EVIEW    OF    REVIEWS  CO. 


This  bastion  fort,  near  the  left  of  the  Confederate  line  of 
defenses  at  Port  Hudson,  was  the  strongest  of  their  works, 
and  here  Weitzel  and  Grover's  divisions  of  the  Federals 
followed  up  the  attack  (begun  at  daylight  of  June  14th) 
that  Banks  had  ordered  all  along  the  line  in  his  second 


effort  to  capture  the  position.  The  only  result  was  sim 
ply  to  advance  the  Federal  lines  from  fifty  to  two 
hundred  yards  nearer.  In  front  of  the  "citadel"  an 
advance  position  was  gained  from  which  a  mine  was 
subsequently  run  to  within  a  few  yards  of  the  fort. 


nf  IftrkHbttrg  anln  ftort  Iftthstm     •$• 


the  assault  at  all  points  at  the  same  moment — ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  At  the  appointed  time,  the  cannon  from  the 
encircling  lines  burst  forth  in  a  deafening  roar.  Then  came 
the  answering  thunders  from  the  mortar-boats  on  the  Louisiana 
shore  and  from  the  gunboats  anchored  beneath  the  bluff.  The 
gunboats'  fire  was  answered  from  within  the  bastions  protect 
ing  the  city.  The  opening  of  the  heavy  guns  on  the  land  side 
was  followed  by  the  sharper  crackle  of  musketry — thousands 
of  shots,  indistinguishable  in  a  continuous  roll. 

The  men  in  the  Federal  lines  leaped  from  their  hiding 
places  and  ran  to  the  parapets  in  the  face  of  a  murderous  fire 
from  the  defenders  of  the  city,  only  to  be  mowed  down  by 
hundreds.  Others  came,  crawling  over  the  bodies  of  their 
fallen  comrades — now  and  then  they  planted  their  colors  on 
the  battlements  of  the  besieged  city,  to  be  cut  down  by  the  gall 
ing  Confederate  fire.  Thus  it  continued  hour  after  hour,  until 
the  coming  of  darkness.  The  assault  had  failed.  The  Union 
loss  was  about  three  thousand  brave  men ;  the  Confederate  loss 
was  probably  not  much  over  five  hundred. 

Grant  had  made  a  fearful  sacrifice ;  he  was  paying  a  high 
price  but  he  had  a  reason  for  so  doing — Johnston  with  a  re- 
enforcing  army  was  threatening  him  in  the  rear;  by  taking 
Vicksburg  at  this  time  he  could  have  turned  on  Johnston,  and 
could  have  saved  the  Government  sending  any  more  Federal 
troops;  and,  to  use  his  own  words,  it  was  needed  because  the 
men  "  would  not  have  worked  in  the  trenches  with  the  same 
zeal,  believing  it  unnecessary,  as  they  did  after  their  failure, 
to  carry  the  enemy's  works." 

On  the  north  side  of  the  city  overlooking  the  river,  were 
the  powerful  batteries  on  Fort  Hill,  a  deadly  menace  to  the 
Federal  troops,  and  Grant  and  Sherman  believed  that  if  en 
filaded  by  the  gunboats  this  position  could  be  carried.  At 
their  request  Admiral  Porter  sent  the  Cincinnati  on  May  27th 
to  engage  the  Confederate  guns,  while  four  vessels  below  the 
town  did  the  same  to  the  lower  defenses.  In  half  an  hour  five 


Jul 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW  OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  FIRST  INDIANA  HEAVY  ARTILLERY  AT  BATON  ROUGE 


PHOTOGRAPHS  THAT  FURNISHED  VALUABLE  SECRET-SERVICE  INFORMATION  TO  THE 

CONFEDERATES 

The  clearest  and  most  trustworthy  evidence  of  an  opponent's  strength  is  of  course  an  actual  photograph.  Such  evidence,  in 
spite  of  the  early  stage  of  the  art  and  the  difficulty  of  "running  in"  chemical  supplies  on  "orders  to  trade,"  was  supplied  the  Con 
federate  leaders  in  the  Southwest  by  Lytle,  the  Baton  Rouge  photographer — really  a  member  of  the  Confederate  secret  service. 
Here  are  photographs  of  the  First  Indiana  Heavy  Artillery  (formerly  the  Twenty-first  Indiana  Infantry),  showing  its  strength 
and  position  on  the  arsenal  grounds  at  Baton  Rouge.  As  the  Twenty-first  Indiana,  the  regiment  had  been  at  Baton  Rouge  during 
the  first  Federal  occupation,  and  after  the  fall  of  Port  Hudson  it  returned  there  for  garrison  duty.  Little  did  its  officers  suspect  that 
the  quiet  man  photographing  the  batteries  at  drill  was  about  to  convey  the  "information"  beyond  their  lines  to  their  opponents. 


0f  Utrkalmrg  anfo  ftori  I 


of  the  Cincinnati  s  guns  were  disabled;  and  she  was  in  a  sink 
ing  condition.  She  was  run  toward  the  shore  and  sank  in 
three  fathoms  of  water. 

The  army  now  settled  down  to  a  wearisome  siege.  For  six 
weeks,  they  encircled  the  city  with  trenches,  approaching  nearer 
and  nearer  to  the  defending  walls;  they  exploded  mines;  they 
shot  at  every  head  that  appeared  above  the  parapets.  One 
by  one  the  defending  batteries  were  silenced.  The  sappers 
slowly  worked  their  way  toward  the  Confederate  ramparts. 
Miners  were  busy  on  both  sides  burrowing  beneath  the  forti 
fications.  At  three  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  June  25th  a 
redoubt  in  the  Confederate  works  was  blown  into  the  air,  break 
ing  into  millions  of  fragments  and  disclosing  guns,  men,  and 
timber.  With  the  mine  explosion,  the  Federal  soldiers  before 
the  redoubt  began  to  dash  into  the  opening,  only  to  meet  with  a 
withering  fire  from  an  interior  parapet  which  the  Confederates 
had  constructed  in  anticipation  of  this  event.  The  carnage  was 
appalling  to  behold ;  and  wrhen  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  finally 
retired  they  had  learned  a  costly  lesson  which  withheld  them 
from  attack  when  another  mine  was  exploded  on  July  1st. 

Meantime,  let  us  take  a  view  of  the  river  below  and  the 
life  of  the  people  within  the  doomed  city.  Far  down  the  river, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Vicksburg,  was  Port  Hud 
son.  The  place  was  fortified  and  held  by  a  Confederate  force 
under  General  Gardner.  Like  Vicksburg,  it  was  besieged  by 
a  Federal  army,  under  Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  of  Cedar  Moun 
tain  fame.  On  May  27th,  he  made  a  desperate  attack  on  the 
works  and  was  powerfully  aided  by  Farragut  with  his  fleet 
in  the  river.  But  aside  from  dismounting  a  few  guns  and 
weakening  the  foe  at  a  still  heavier  cost  to  their  own  ranks, 
the  Federals  were  unsuccessful.  Again,  on  June  10th,  and  still 
again  on  the  14th,  Banks  made  fruitless  attempts  to  carry  Port 
Hudson  by  storm.  He  then,  like  Grant  at  Vicksburg,  settled 
down  to  a  siege.  The  defenders  of  Port  Hudson  proved  their 
courage  by  enduring  every  hardship. 


July 
1863 


^ 


aim 


it. 


'A  I 


f/ 


"MY 
EXECUTIVE 

OFFICER, 
MR.   DEWEY' 


THE 

FUTURE    ADMIRAL 

AS  CIVIL  WAR 

LIEUTENANT 


In  the  fight  with  the  batteries  at  Port  Hudson,  March  14,  1863,  Farragut,  in  the  "  Hartford "  lashed  to  the  "  Albatross, "  got  by,  but 
the  fine  old  consort  of  the  "Hartford,"  the  "Mississippi,"  went  down — her  gunners  fighting  to  the  last.  Farragut,  in  anguish,  could 
see  her  enveloped  in  flames  lighting  up  the  river.  She  had  grounded  under  the  very  guns  of  a  battery,  and  not  until  actually  driven 
off  by  the  flames  did  her  men  leave  her.  When  the  "Mississippi"  grounded,  the  shock  threw  her  lieutenant-commander  into  the  river, 
and  in  confusion  he  swam  toward  the  shore;  then,  turning  about,  he  swam  back  to  his  ship.  Captain  Smith  thus  writes  in  his  report: 
"I  consider  that  I  should  be  neglecting  a  most  important  duty  should  I  omit  to  mention  the  coolness  of  my  executive  officer,  Mr. 
Dewey,  and  the  steady,  fearless,  and  gallant  manner  in  which  the  officers  and  men  of  the  'Mississippi'  defended  her,  and  the  orderly 
and  quiet  manner  in  which  she  was  abandoned  after  being  thirty-five  minutes  aground  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  batteries.  There 
was  no  confusion  in  embarking  the  crew,  and  the  only  noise  was  from  the  enemy's  cannon."  Lieutenant-Commander  George  Dewey, 
here  mentioned  at  the  age  of  26,  was  to  exemplify  in  Manila  Bay  on  May  1,  1898,  the  lessons  he  was  learning  from  Farragut. 


of  Htdushurg  ant  ftort 


July 
1863 


m 
U 


At  Vicksburg,  during  the  whole  six  weeks  of  the  siege,  the 
men  in  the  trenches  worked  steadily,  advancing  the  coils  about 
the  city.  Grant  received  reenforcement  and  before  the  end  of 
the  siege  his  army  numbered  over  seventy  thousand.  Day  and 
night,  the  roar  of  artillery  continued.  From  the  mortars  across 
the  river  and  from  Porter's  fleet  the  shrieking  shells  rose  in 
grand  parabolic  curves,  bursting  in  midair  or  in  the  streets 
of  the  city,  spreading  havoc  in  all  directions.  The  people  of 
the  city  burrowed  into  the  ground  for  safety.  Many  whole 
families  lived  in  these  dismal  abodes,  their  walls  of  clay  being 
shaken  by  the  roaring  battles  that  raged  above  the  ground. 
In  one  of  these  dens,  sixty-five  people  found  a  home.  The 
food  supply  ran  low,  and  day  by  day  it  became  scarcer.  At 
last,  by  the  end  of  June,  there  was  nothing  to  eat  except  mule 
meat  and  a  kind  of  bread  made  of  beans  and  corn  meal. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  July  3d.  White 
flags  wrere  seen  above  the  parapet.  The  firing  ceased.  A 
strange  quietness  rested  over  the  scene  of  the  long  bombard 
ment.  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  the  one,  too,  on  which  wras 
heard  the  last  shot  on  the  battlefield  of  Gettysburg,  Grant  and 
Pemberton  stood  beneath  an  oak  tree,  in  front  of  McPherson's 
corps,  and  opened  negotiations  for  the  capitulation.  On  the 
following  morning,  the  Nation's  birthday,  about  thirty  thou 
sand  soldiers  laid  down  their  arms  as  prisoners  of  war  and  were 
released  on  parole.  The  losses  from  May  1st  to  the  surrender 
were  about  ten  thousand  on  each  side. 

Three  days  later,  at  Port  Hudson,  a  tremendous  cheer 
arose  from  the  besieging  army.  The  Confederates  within  the 
defenses  were  at  a  loss  to  know  the  cause.  Then  some  one 
shouted  the  news,  "Vicksburg  has  surrendered!" 

The  end  had  come.  Port  Hudson  could  not  hope  to  stand 
alone;  the  greater  fortress  had  fallen.  Two  days  later,  July 
9th,  the  gallant  garrison,  worn  and  weary  with  the  long  siege, 
surrendered  to  General  Banks.  The  whole  course  of  the 
mighty  Mississippi  was  now  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

[Part  VIII] 


\ 


V 


WHILE  LINCOLN 


SPOKE  AT 


GETTYSBURG, 


NOVEMBER 


19,    1863 


DUREVG  THE 


FAMOUS  ADDRESS 


IN  DEDICATION 


OF  THE 


CEMETERY 


The  most  important  American  address  is  brief:  "Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  on  this  continent 
a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now  we  are  engaged  in 
a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a 
great  battlefield  of  that  waf.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who  here  gave 
their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this.  But  in  a  larger  sense,  we 
cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  consecrate,  we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here, 
have  consecrated  it  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember,  what  we  say 
here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work 
which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  re 
maining  before  us; — that  from  these  honored  dead,  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full 
measure  of  devotion; — that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain,  that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall 
have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. " 


TBIOT   PUB.   CO. 


1 


THE  BATTLE    OF   GETTYSBURG— THE 

HIGH-WATER   MARK   OF   THE 

CIVIL    WAR 

THE  military  operations  of  the  American  Civil  'War  were 
carried  on  for  the  most  part  south  of  the  Mason  and 
Dixon  line;  but  the  greatest  and  most  famous  of  the  battles 
was  fought  on  the  soil  of  the  old  Keystone  State,  which  had 
given  birth  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  to  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States. 

Gettysburg  is  a  quiet  hamlet,  nestling  among  the  hills  of 
Adams  County,  and  in  1863  contained  about  fifteen  hundred 
inhabitants.  It  had  been  founded  in  1780  by  James  Gettys, 
who  probably  never  dreamed  that  his  name  thus  given  to  the 
village  would,  through  apparently  accidental  circumstances, 
become  famous  in  history  for  all  time. 

The  hills  immediately  around  Gettysburg  are  not  rugged 
or  precipitous;  they  are  little  more  than  gentle  swells  of 
ground,  and  many  of  them  were  covered  with  timber  when  the 
hosts  of  the  North  and  the  legions  of  the  South  fought  out  the 
destiny  of  the  American  republic  on  those  memorable  July 
days  in  1863. 

Lee's  army  was  flushed  with  victory  after  Chancellorsville 
and  was  strengthened  by  the  memory  of  Fredericksburg. 
Southern  hopes  were  high  after  Hooker's  defeat  on  the  Rappa- 
hannock,  in  May,  1863,  and  public  opinion  was  unanimous  in 
demanding  an  invasion  of  Northern  soil.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  its  several  leaders,  had  met 
with  continual  discouragement,  and,  with  all  its  patriotism  and 
valor,  its  two  years'  warfare  showed  but  few  bright  pages  to 
cheer  the  heart  of  the  war-broken  soldier,  and  to  inspire  the 
hopes  of  the  anxious  public  in  the  North. 


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July 
1863 


Leaving  General  Stuart  with  ten  thousand  cavalry  and  a 
part  of  Hill's  corps  to  prevent  Hooker  from  pursuing,  Lee 
crossed  the  Potomac  early  in  June,  1863,  concentrated  his 
army  at  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  and  prepared  for  a  cam 
paign  in  Pennsylvania,  with  Harrisburg  as  the  objective.  His 
army  was  organized  in  three  corps,  under  the  respective  com 
mands  of  Longstreet,  Ewell,  and  A.  P.  Hill.  Lee  had  divided 
his  army  so  as  to  approach  Harrisburg  by  different  routes  and 
to  assess  the  towns  along  the  way  for  large  sums  of  money. 
Late  in  June,  he  was  startled  by  the  intelligence  that  Stuart 
had  failed  to  detain  Hooker,  and  that  the  Federals  had  crossed 
the  Potomac  and  were  in  hot  pursuit. 

Lee  was  quick  to  see  that  his  plans  must  be  changed.  He 
knew  that  to  continue  his  march  he  must  keep  his  army  to 
gether  to  watch  his  pursuing  antagonist,  and  that  such  a  course 
in  this  hostile  country  would  mean  starvation,  while  the  will 
ing  hands  of  the  surrounding  populace  would  minister  to  the 
wants  of  his  foe.  Again,  if  he  should  scatter  his  forces  that 
they  might  secure  the  necessary  supplies,  the  parts  would  be 
attacked  singly  and  destroyed.  Lee  saw,  therefore,  that  he 
must  abandon  his  invasion  of  the  North  or  turn  upon  his  pur 
suing  foe  and  disable  him  in  order  to  continue  his  march.  But 
that  foe  was  a  giant  of  strength  and  courage,  more  than  equal 
to  his  own;  and  the  coming  together  of  two  such  forces  in  a 
mighty  death-struggle  meant  that  a  great  battle  must  be 
fought,  a  greater  battle  than  this  Western  world  had  hitherto 
known. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  again  changed  leaders,  and 
George  Gordon  Meade  was  now  its  commander.  Hooker, 
after  a  dispute  with  Halleck,  resigned  his  leadership,  and 
Meade,  the  strongest  of  the  corps  commanders,  was  appointed 
in  his  place,  succeeding  him  on  June  28th.  The  two  great 
armies — Union  and  Confederate — were  scattered  over  portions 
of  Maryland  and  southern  Pennsylvania.  Both  were  march 
ing  northward,  along  almost  parallel  lines.  The  Confederates 


ROBERT   E.   LEE   IX   1803 

It  was  with  the  gravest  misgivings  that  Lee  began  his  invasion  of  the  North  in  1863.  He  was 
too  wise  a  general  not  to  realize  that  a  crushing  defeat  was  possible.  Yet,  with  Vicksburg 
already  doomed,  the  effort  to  win  a  decisive  victory  in  the  East  was  imperative  in  its  impor 
tance.  Magnificent  was  the  courage  and  fortitude  of  Lee's  maneuvering  during  that  long 
march  which  was  to  end  in  failure.  Hitherto  he  had  made  every  one  of  his  veterans  count  for 
two  of  their  antagonists,  but  at  Gettysburg  the  odds  had  fallen  heavily  against  him.  Jackson, 
his  resourceful  ally,  was  no  more.  Longstreet  advised  strongly  against  giving  battle,  but  Lee 
unwaveringly  made  the  tragic  effort  which  sacrificed  more  than  a  third  of  his  splendid  army. 


rttystmrg 


were  gradually  pressing  toward  the  east,  while  the  Federals 
were  marching  along  a  line  eastward  of  that  followed  by  the 
Confederates.  The  new  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  was  keeping  his  forces  interposed  between  the  legions  of 
Lee  and  the  Federal  capital,  and  watching  for  an  opportunity 
to  force  the  Confederates  to  battle  where  the  Federals  would 
have  the  advantage  of  position.  It  was  plain  that  they  must 
soon  come  together  in  a  gigantic  contest;  but  just  where  the 
shock  of  battle  would  take  place  was  yet  unknown.  Meade 
had  ordered  a  general  movement  toward  Harrisburg,  and  Gen 
eral  Buford  was  sent  with  four  thousand  cavalry  to  intercept 
the  Confederate  advance  guard. 

On  the  night  of  June  30th  Buford  encamped  on  a  low  hill, 
a  mile  west  of  Gettysburg,  and  here  on  the  following  morning 
the  famous  battle  had  its  beginning. 

On  the  morning  of  July  1st  the  two  armies  were  still  scat 
tered,  the  extremes  being  forty  miles  apart.  But  General 
Reynolds,  with  two  corps  of  the  Union  army,  was  but  a  few 
miles  away,  and  was  hastening  to  Gettysburg,  while  Long- 
street  and  Hill  were  approaching  from  the  west.  Buford 
opened  the  battle,  against  Heth's  division  of  Hill's  corps.  Rey 
nolds  soon  joined  Buford,  and  three  hours  before  noon  the  bat 
tle  was  in  progress  on  Seminary  Ridge.  Reynolds  rode  out 
to  his  fighting-lines  on  the  ridge,  and  while  placing  his  troops, 
a  little  after  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  received  a  sharp 
shooter's  bullet  in  the  brain.  The  gallant  Federal  leader  fell 
dead.  John  F.  Reynolds,  who  had  been  promoted  for  gal 
lantry  at  Buena  Vista  in  the  Mexican  War,  was  one  of  the 
bravest  and  ablest  generals  of  the  Union  army.  No  casualty 
of  the  war  brought  more  widespread  mourning  to  the  North 
than  the  death  of  Reynolds. 

But  even  this  calamity  could  not  stay  the  fury  of  the  bat 
tle.  By  one  o'clock  both  sides  had  been  greatly  reenforced, 
and  the  battle-line  extended  north  of  the  town  from  Seminary 
Ridge  to  +he  bank  of  Rock  Creek.  Here  for  hours  the  roar 


July 
1863 


i 


HANCOCK,   "THE  SUPERB" 

Every  man  in  this  picture  was  wounded  at  Gettysburg.  Seated,  is  Winfield  Scott  Hancock;  the  boy-general,  Francis  C.  Barlow  (who 
was  struck  almost  mortally),  leans  against  the  tree.  The  other  two  are  General  John  Gibbon  and  General  David  B.  Birney.  About 
four  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  July  1st  a  foam-flecked  charger  dashed  up  Cemetery  Hill  bearing  General  Hancock.  He  had  galloped 
thirteen  miles  to  take  command.  Apprised  of  the  loss  of  Reynolds,  his  main  dependence,  Meade  knew  that  only  a  man  of  vigor  and 
judgment  could  save  the  situation.  He  chose  wisely,  for  Hancock  was  one  of  the  best  all-round  soldiers  that  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  had  developed.  It  was  he  who  re-formed  the  shattered  corps  and  chose  the  position  to  be  held  for  the  decisive  struggle. 


rttgalmrg 


July 
1863 


of  the  battle  was  unceasing.  About  the  middle  of  the  after 
noon  a  breeze  lifted  the  smoke  that  had  enveloped  the  whole 
battle-line  in  darkness,  and  revealed  the  fact  that  the  Federals 
were  being  pressed  back  toward  Gettysburg.  General  Carl 
Schurz,  who  after  Reynolds'  death  directed  the  extreme  right 
near  Rock  Creek,  leaving  nearly  half  of  his  men  dead  or 
wounded  on  the  field,  retreated  toward  Cemetery  Hill,  and 
in  passing  through  the  town  the  Confederates  pursued  and  cap 
tured  a  large  number  of  the  remainder.  The  left  wing,  now 
unable  to  hold  its  position  owing  to  the  retreat  of  the  right, 
was  also  forced  back,  and  it,  too,  took  refuge  on  Cemetery 
Hill,  which  had  been  selected  by  General  O.  O.  Howard; 
and  the  first  day's  fight  was  over.  It  was  several  hours  be 
fore  night,  and  had  the  Southerners  known  of  the  disorganized 
condition  of  the  Union  troops,  they  might  have  pursued  and 
captured  a  large  part  of  the  army.  Meade,  who  was  still  some 
miles  from  the  field,  hearing  of  the  death  of  Reynolds,  had 
sent  Hancock  to  take  general  command  until  he  himself  should 
arrive. 

Hancock  had  ridden  at  full  speed  and  arrived  on  the  field 
between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  His  presence 
soon  brought  order  out  of  chaos.  His  superb  bearing,  his  air 
of  confidence,  his  promise  of  heavy  reenforcements  during  the 
night,  all  tended  to  inspire  confidence  and  to  renew  hope  in  the 
ranks  of  the  discouraged  army.  Had  this  day  ended  the  affair 
at  Gettysburg,  the  usual  story  of  the  defeat  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  would  have  gone  forth  to  the  world.  Only  the 
advance  portions  of  both  armies  had  been  engaged;  and  yet 
the  battle  had  been  a  formidable  one.  The  Union  loss  was 
severe.  A  great  commander  had  fallen,  and  the  rank  and  file 
had  suffered  the  fearful  loss  of  ten  thousand  men. 

Meade  reached  the  scene  late  in  the  night,  and  chose  to 
make  this  field,  on  which  the  advance  of  both  armies  had  acci 
dentally  met,  the  place  of  a  general  engagement.  Lee  had 
come  to  the  same  decision,  and  both  called  on  their  outlying 


PATRIOT  PUB.  CO. 


MUTE  PLEADERS  IN  THE  CAUSE  OF  PEACE 


here  was  little  time 
hat  could  be  employed 
y  either  side  in  caring 
or  those  who  fell  upon 
he  fields  of  the  almost 
ninterrupted  fighting 
t  Gettysburg.  On  the 
norning  of  the  4th, 
when  Lee  began  to 
bandon  his  position  on 
seminary  Ridge,  oppo- 
ite  the  Federal  right, 
>oth  sides  sent  forth 
mbulance  and  burial 
letails  to  remove  the 
.•ounded  and  bury  the 
lead  in  the  torrential 
ain  then  falling.  Under 
x>ver  of  the  hazy  at- 
nosphere,  Lee  was  get 


ting  his  whole  army  in 
motion  to  retreat. 
Many  an  unfinished 
shallow  grave,  like  the 
one  above,  had  to  be 
left  by  the  Confederates. 
In  this  lower  picture 
some  men  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Michigan  in 
fantry  are  lying  dead 
on  the  field  of  battle. 
This  regiment — one  of 
the  units  of  the  Iron 
Brigade — left  seven  dis 
tinct  rows  of  dead  as  it 
fell  back  from  battle-line 
to  battle-line,  on  the  first 
day.  Three-fourths  of 
its  members  were  struck 
down. 


MEN    OF  THE   IRON   BRIGADE 


*     * 


* 


July 
1863 


legions  to  make  all  possible  speed  to  Gettysburg.  Before 
morning,  nearly  all  the  troops  of  both  armies  had  reached  the 
field.  The  Union  army  rested  with  its  center  on  Cemetery 
Ridge,  with  its  right  thrown  around  to  Gulp's  Hill  and  its  left 
extended  southward  toward  the  rocky  peak  called  Round  Top. 
The  Confederate  army,  with  its  center  on  Seminary  Ridge, 
its  wings,  extending  from  beyond  Rock  Creek  on  the  north  to  a 
point  opposite  Round  Top  on  the  south,  lay  in  a  great  semi 
circle,  half  surrounding  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  But  Lee 
was  at  a  disadvantage.  First,  "  Stonewall "  Jackson  was 
gone,  and  second,  Stuart  was  absent  with  his  ten  thousand 
cayalry.  Furthermore,  Meade  was  on  the  defensive,  and  had 
the  advantage  of  occupying  the  inner  ring  of  the  huge  half 
circle.  Thus  lay  the  two  mighty  hosts,  awaiting  the  morning, 
and  the  carnage  that  the  day  was  to  bring.  It  seemed  that  the 
fate  of  the  Republic  was  here  to  be  decided,  and  the  people 
of  the  North  and  the  South  watched  with  breathless  eagerness 
for  the  decision  about  to  be  made  at  Gettysburg. 

The  dawn  of  July  2d  betokened  a  beautiful  summer  day 
in  southern  Pennsylvania.  The  hours  of  the  night  had  been 
spent,  by  the  two  armies  in  marshaling  of  battalions  and 
maneuvering  of  corps  and  divisions,  getting  into  position  for 
the  mighty  combat  of  the  coming  day.  But,  when  morning 
dawned,  both  armies  hesitated,  as  if  unwilling  to  begin  the  task 
of  bloodshed.  They  remained  inactive,  except  for  a  stray  shot 
here  and  there,  until  nearly  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

The  fighting  on  this  second  day  was  chiefly  confined  to  the 
two  extremes,  the  centers  remaining  comparatively  inactive. 
Longstreet  commanded  the  Confederate  right,  and  opposite 
him  on  the  Union  left  was  General  Daniel  E.  Sickles.  The 
Confederate  left  wing,  under  Ewell,  was  opposite  Slocum  and 
the  Union  right  stationed  on  Gulp's  Hill. 

The  plan  of  General  Meade  had  been  to  have  the  corps 
commanded  by  General  Sickles  connect  with  that  of  Hancock 
and  extend  southward  near  the  base  of  the  Round  Tops. 


I 


THE  FIRST  DAY'S  TOLL 

The  lives  laid  down  by  the  blue-clad  soldiers  in  the  first  day's  fighting  made  possible  the  ultimate  victory  at  Gettysburg.  The  stubborn 
resistance  of  Buford's  cavalry  and  of  the  First  and  Eleventh  Corps  checked  the  Confederate  advance  for  an  entire  day.  The  delay  was 
priceless;  it  enabled  Meade  to  concentrate  his  army  upon  the  heights  to  the  south  of  Gettysburg,  a  position  which  proved  impregnable. 
To  a  Pennsylvanian,  General  John  F.  Reynolds,  falls  the  credit  of  the  determined  stand  that  was  made  that  day.  Commanding  the 
advance  of  the  army,  he  promptly  went  to  Buford's  support,  bringing  up  his  infantry  and  artillery  to  hold  back  the  Confederates. 


McPHERSON'S  WOODS 


At  the  edge  of  these  woods 
General  Reynolds  was  killed  by  a 
Confederate  sharpshooter  in  the 
first  vigorous  contest  of  the  day. 
The  woods  lay  between  the  two 
roads  upon  which  the  Confeder 
ates  were  advancing  from  the 
west,  and  General  Doubleday  (in 
command  of  the  First  Corps)  was 
ordered  to  take  the  position  so 
that  the  columns  of  the  foe  could 
be  enfiladed  by  the  infantry,  while 
contending  with  the  artillery 
posted  on  both  roads.  The  Iron 


Brigade  under  General  Meredith 
was  ordered  to  hold  the  ground 
at  all  hazards.  As  they  charged, 
the  troops  shouted:  "If  we  can't 
hold  it,  where  will  you  find  the 
men  who  can?"  On  they  swept, 
capturing  General  Archer  and 
many  of  his  Confederate  brigade 
that  had  entered  the  woods  from 
the  other  side.  As  Archer  passed 
to  the  rear,  Doubleday,  who  had 
been  his  classmate  at  West  Point, 
greeted  him  with  "Good  morn 
ing!  I'm  glad  to  see  you!" 


•$* 


July 
1863 


Sickles  found  this  ground  low  and  disadvantageous  as  a  fight 
ing-place.  In  his  front  he  saw  the  high  ground  along  the  ridge 
on  the  side  of  which  the  peach  orchard  was  situated,  and  ad 
vanced  his  men  to  this  position,  placing  them  along  the  Em- 
mitsburg  road,  and  back  toward  the  Trostle  farm  and  the 
.wheat-field,  thus  forming  an  angle  at  the  peach  orchard.  The 
left  flank  of  Hancock's  line  now  rested  far  behind  the  right 
flank  of  Sickles'  forces.  The  Third- Corps  was  alone  in  its  po 
sition  in  advance  of  the  Federal  line.  The  Confederate  troops 
later  marched  along  Sickles'  front  so  that  Longstreet's  corps 
overlapped  the  left  wing  of  the  Union  army.  The  Northern 
ers  grimly  watched  the  bristling  cannon  and  the  files  of  men 
that  faced  them  across  the  valley,  as  they  waited  for  the  battle 
to  commence. 

The  boom  of  cannon  from  Longstreet's  batteries  an 
nounced  the  beginning  of  the  second  day's  battle.  Lee  had  or 
dered  Longstreet  to  attack  Sickles  in  full  force.  The  fire  was 
quickly  answered  by  the  Union  troops,  and  before  long  the 
fight  extended  from  the  peach  orchard  through  the  wheat- 
field  and  along  the  whole  line  to  the  base  of  Little  Round  Top. 
The  musketry  commenced  with  stray  volleys  here  and  there- 
then  more  and  faster,  until  there  wras  one  continuous  roar,  and 
no -ear  could  distinguish  one  shot  from  another.  Longstreet 
swept  forward  in  a  magnificent  line  of  battle,  a  mile  and  a  half 
long.  He  pressed  back  the  Union  infantry,  and  was  seriously 
threatening  the  artillery. 

At  the  extreme  left,  close  to  the  Trostle  house,  Captain 
John  Bigelow  commanded  the  Ninth  Battery,  Massachusetts 
Light  Artillery.  He  was  ordered  to  hold  his  position  at  all 
hazards  until  reenforced.  With  double  charges  of  grape  and 
canister,  again  and  again  he  tore  great  gaps  in  the  advancing 
line,  but  it  re-formed  and  pressed  onward  until  the  men  in  gray 
reached  the  muzzles  of  the  Federal  guns.  Again  Bigelow 
fired,  but  the  heroic  band  had  at  last  to  give  way  to  the  in 
creased  numbers  of  the  attack,  which  finally  resulted  in  a  hand- 


911,    PATRIOT   PUB.   CO. 


FEDERAL  DEAD   AT  GETTYSBURG,   JULY   1,    1863 

All  the  way  from  McPherson's  Woods  back  to  Cemetery  Hill  lay  the  Federal  soldiers,  who  had  contested  every  foot  of  that  retreat  until 
nightfall.  The  Confederates  were  massing  so  rapidly  from  the  west  and  north  that  there  was  scant  time  to  bring  off  the  wounded  and 
none  for  attention  to  the  dead.  There  on  the  field  lay  the  shoes  so  much  needed  by  the  Confederates,  and  the  grim  task  of  gathering 
them  began.  The  dead  were  stripped  of  arms,  ammunition,  caps,  and  accoutrements  as  well — in  fact,  of  everything  that  would  be  of 
the  slightest  use  in  enabling  Lee's  poorly  equipped  army  to  continue  the  internecine  strife.  It  was  one  of  war's  awful  expedients. 


SEMINARY  RIDGE,   BEYOND   GETTYSBURG 


Along  this  road  the  Federals  re 
treated  toward  Cemetery  Hill  in 
the  late  afternoon  of  July  1st. 
The  success  of  McPherson's 
Woods  was  but  temporary,  for 
the  Confederates  under  Hill  were 
coming  up  in  overpowering  num 
bers,  and  now  E well's  forces  ap 
peared  from  the  north.  The 
First  Corps,  under  Doubleday, 
"  broken  and  defeated  but  not 
(dismayed,"  fell  back,  pausing 
now  and  again  to  fire  a  volley  at 


the  pursuing  Confederates.  It 
finally  joined  the  Eleventh  Corps, 
which  had  also  been  driven  back 
to  Cemetery  Hill.  Lee  was  on  the 
field  in  time  to  watch  the  retreat 
of  the  Federals,  and  advised 
Ewell  to  follow  them  up,  but 
Ewell  (who  had  lost  3,000  men) 
decided  upon  discretion.  Night 
fell  with  the  beaten  Federals, 
reenforced  by  the  Twelfth  Corps 
and  part  of  the  Third,  facing 
nearly  the  whole  of  Lee's  army. 


*     •$• 


July 
1863 


mam 


to-hand  struggle  with  a  Mississippi  regiment.  Bigelow  was 
wounded,  and  twenty-eight  of  his  hundred  and  four  men  were 
left  on  the  bloody  field,  while  he  lost  sixty-five  out  of  eighty- 
eight  horses,  and  four  of  six  guns.  Such  was  one  of  many 
deeds  of  heroism  enacted  at  Gettysburg. 

But  the  most  desperate  struggle  of  the  day  was  the  fight 
for  the  possession  of  Little  Round  Top.  Just  before  the  ac 
tion  began  General  Meade  sent  his  chief  engineer,  General  G. 
K.  Warren,  to  examine  conditions  on  the  Union  left.  The 
battle  was  raging  in  the  peach  orchard  when  he  came  to  Little 
Round  Top.  It  was  unoccupied  at  the  time,  and  Warren 
quickly  saw  the  great  importance  of  preventing  its  occupation 
by  the  Confederates,  for  the  hill  was  the  key  to  the  whole  bat 
tle-ground  west  and  south  of  Cemetery  Ridge.  Before  long, 
the  engineer  saw  Hood's  division  of  Longstreet's  corps  moving 
steadily  toward  the  hill,  evidently  determined  to  occupy  it. 
Had  Hood  succeeded,  the  result  would  have  been  most  dis 
astrous  to  the  Union  army,  for  the  Confederates  could  then 
have  subjected  the  entire  Union  lines  on  the  western  edge  of 
Cemetery  Ridge  to  an  enfilading  fire.  Warren  and  a  signal 
officer  seized  flags  and  waved  them,  to  deceive  the  Confeder 
ates  as  to  the  occupation  of  the  height.  Sykes'  corps,  marching 
to  the  support  of  the  left,  soon  came  along,  and  Warren,  dash 
ing  down  the  side  of  the  hill  to  meet  it,  caused  the  brigade 
under  Colonel  Vincent  and  a  part  of  that  under  General  Weed 
to  be  detached,  and  these  occupied  the  coveted  position.  Haz- 
lett's  battery  was  dragged  by  hand  up  the  rugged  slope  and 
planted  on  the  summit. 

Meantime  Hood's  forces  had  come  up  the  hill,  and  were 
striving  at  the  very  summit ;  and  now  occurred  one  of  the  most 
desperate  hand-to-hand  conflicts  of  the  war — in  which  men 
forgot  that  they  were  human  and  tore  at  each  other  like  wild 
beasts.  The  opposing  forces,  not  having  time  to  reload, 
charged  each  other  with  bayonets — men  assaulted  each  other 
with  clubbed  muskets — the  Blue  and  the  Gray  grappled  in 


IN  THE  DEVIL'S   DEN 


Upon  this  wide,  steep  hill,  about  five  hundred  yards  due  west  of  Little  Round  Top  and  one  hundred  feet 
lower,  was  a  chasm  named  by  the  country  folk  "the  Devil's  Den."  When  the  position  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Confederates  at  the  end  of  the  second  day's  fighting,  it  became  the  stronghold  of  their  sharpshooters, 
and  well  did  it  fulfill  its  name.  It  was  a  most  dangerous  post  to  occupy,  since  the  Federal  batteries  on 
the  Round  Top  were  constantly  shelling  it  in  an  effort  to  dislodge  the  hardy  riflemen,  many  of  whom  met 
the  fate  of  the  one  in  the  picture.  Their  deadly  work  continued,  however,  and  many  a  gallant  officer  of 
the  Federals  was  picked  off  during  the  fighting  on  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day.  General  Vincent  was 
one  of  the  first  victims ;  General  Weed  fell  likewise ;  and  as  Lieutenant  Hazlett  bent  over  him  to  catch  his 
last  words,  a  bullet  through  the  head  prostrated  that  officer  lifeless  on  the  body  of  his  chief. 


rttgaburg 


<*• 


July 
1863 


mortal  combat  and  fell  dead,  side  by  side.  The  privates  in  the 
front  ranks  fought  their  way  onward  until  they  fell,  the  of 
ficers  sprang  forward,  seized  the  muskets  from  the  hands  of 
the  dying  and  the  dead,  and  continued  the  combat.  The  furi 
ous  struggle  continued  for  half  an  hour,  when  Hood's  forces 
gave  way  and  were  pressed  down  the  hillside.  But  they  ral 
lied  and  advanced  again  by  way  of  a  ravine  on  the  left,  and 
finally,  after  a  most  valiant  charge,  were  driven  back  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet. 

Little  Round  Top  was  saved  to  the  Union  army,  but  the 
cost  was  appalling.  The  hill  was  covered  with  hundreds  of  the 
slain.  Scores  of  the  Confederate  sharpshooters  had  taken  posi 
tion  among  the  crevasses  in  the  Devil's  Den,  where  they  could 
overlook  the  position  on  Little  Round  Top,  and  their  unerring 
aim  spread  death  among  the  Federal  officers  and  gunners. 
Colonel  O'Rourke  and  General  Vincent  were  dead.  General 
Weed  was  dying;  and,  as  Hazlett  was  stooping  to  receive 
Weed's  last  message,  a  sharpshooter's  bullet  laid  him — dead— 
across  the  body  of  his  chief. 

During  this  attack,  and  for  some  hours  thereafter,  the  bat 
tle  continued  in  the  valley  below  on  a  grander  scale  and  with 
demon-like  fury.  Here  many  thousands  were  engaged.  Sick 
les'  whole  line  was  pressed  back  to  the  base  of  the  hill  from 
which  it  had  advanced  in  the  morning.  Sickles'  leg  was  shat 
tered  by  a  shell,  necessitating  amputation,  while  scores  of  his 
brave  officers,  and  thousands  of  his  men,  lay  on  the  field  of  bat 
tle  when  the  struggle  ceased  at  nightfall.  This  valley  has  been 
appropriately  named  the  "  Valley  of  Death." 

Before  the  close  of  this  main  part  of  the  second  day's  bat 
tle,  there  was  another  clash  of  arms,  fierce  but  of  short  dura 
tion,  at  the  other  extreme  of  the  line.  Lee  had  ordered  Ewell 
to  attack  Cemetery  Hill  and  Gulp's  Hill  on  the  north,  held 
by  Slocum,  who  had  been  weakened  by  the  sending  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  Twelfth  Corps  to  the  assistance  of  the  left  wing. 
Ewell  had  three  divisions,  two  of  which  were  commanded  by 


THE   UNGUARDED   LINK 

Little  Round  Top,  the  key  to  the  Federal  left  at  Gettysburg,  which  they  all  but  lost  on  the  second  day 
— was  the  scene  of  hand-to-hand  fighting  rarely  equaled  since  long-range  weapons  were  invented.  Twice 
the  Confederates  in  fierce  conflict  fought  their  way  near  to  this  summit,  but  were  repulsed.  Had  they 
gained  it,  they  could  have  planted  artillery  which  would  have  enfiladed  the  left  of  Meade's  line,  and 
Gettysburg  might  have  been  turned  into  an  overwhelming  defeat.  Beginning  at  the  right,  the  Federal 
line  stretched  in  the  form  of  a  fish-hook,  with  the  barb  resting  on  Gulp's  Hill,  the  center  at  the  bend  in  the 
hook  on  Cemetery  Hill,  and  the  left  (consisting  of  General  Sickles'  Third  Corps)  forming  the  shank  to  the 
southward  as  far  as  Round  Top.  On  his  owyn  responsibility  Sickles  had  advanced  a  portion  of  his  line, 
leaving  Little  Round  Top  unprotected.  Upon  this  advanced  line  of  Sickles,  at  the  Peach  Orchard  on  the 
Emmitsburg  road,  the  Confederates  fell  in  an  effort  to  turn  what  they  supposed  to  be  Meade's  left  flank. 
Only  the  promptness  of  General  Warren,  who  discovered  the  gap  and  remedied  it  in  time,  saved  the  key. 


rttgstmrg     •$• 


•$•     •*• 


July 
1863 


Generals  Early  and  Johnson.  It  was  nearly  sunset  when  he 
sent  Early  to  attack  Cemetery  Hill.  Early  was  repulsed 
after  an  hour's  bloody  and  desperate  hand-to-hand  fight,  in 
which  muskets  and  bayonets,  rammers,  clubs,  and  stones  were 
used.  Johnson's  attack  on  Gulp's  Hill  was  more  successful. 
After  a  severe  struggle  of  two  or  three  hours  General  Greene, 
who  alone  of  the  Twelfth  Corps  remained  on  the  right,  suc 
ceeded,  after  reenforcement,  in  driving  the  right  of  Johnson's 
division  away  from  its  entrenchments,  but  the  left  had  no  diffi 
culty  in  taking  possession  of  the  abandoned  works  of  Geary 
and  Ruger,  now  gone  to  Round  Top  and  Rock  Creek  to  assist 
the  left  wing. 

Thus  closed  the  second  day's  battle  at  Gettysburg.  The 
harvest  of  death  had  been  frightful.  The  Union  loss  during 
the  two  days  had  exceeded  twenty  thousand  men;  the  Confed 
erate  loss  was  nearly  equal.  The  Confederate  army  had  gained 
an  apparent  advantage  in  penetrating  the  Union  breastworks 
on  Gulp's  Hill.  But  the  Union  lines,  except  on  Gulp's  Hill, 
were  unbroken.  On  the  night  of  July  2d,  Lee  and  his  gen 
erals  held  a  council  of  war  and  decided  to  make  a  grand  final 
assault  on  Meade's  center  the  following  day.  Against  this  de 
cision  Longstreet  protested  in  vain.  His  counsel  was  that  Lee 
withdraw  to  the  mountains,  compel  Meade  to  follow,  and  then 
turn  and  attack  him.  But  Lee  was  encouraged  by  the  arrival 
of  Pickett's  division  and  of  Stuart's  cavalry,  and  Longstreet's 
objections  were  overruled.  Meade  and  his  corps  commanders 
had  met  and  made  a  like  decision — that  there  should  be  a  fight 
to  the  death  at  Gettysburg. 

That  night  a  brilliant  July  moon  shed  its  luster  upon  the 
ghastly  field  on  which  thousands  of  men  lay,  unable  to  rise. 
Many  of  them  no  longer  needed  help.  Their  last  battle  was 
over,  and  their  spirits  had  fled  to  the  great  Beyond.  But  there 
were  great  numbers,  torn  and  gashed  with  shot  and  shell,  who 
were  still  alive  and  calling  for  water  or  for  the  kindly  touch  of 
a  helping  hand.  Nor  did  they  call  wholly  in  vain.  Here  and 


J 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  HEIGHT  OF  THE  BATTLE-TIDE 


Near  this  gate  to  the  local  cemetery  of  Gettysburg  there  stood  during  the  battle  this  sign:  "All  persons  found  using  firearms  in  these 
grounds  will  be  prosecuted  with  the  utmost  rigor  of  the  law."  Many  a  soldier  must  have  smiled  grimly  at  these  words,  for  this  gate 
way  became  the  key  of  the  Federal  line,  the  very  center  of  the  crudest  use  of  firearms  yet  seen  on  this  continent.  On  the  first  day 
Reynolds  saw  the  value  of  Cemetery  Hill  in  case  of  a  retreat.  Howard  posted  his  reserves  here,  and  Hancock  greatly  strengthened 
the  position.  One  hundred  and  fifty  Confederate  guns  were  turned  against  it  that  last  afternoon.  In  five  minutes  every  man  of 
the  Federals  had  been  forced  to  cover;  for  an  hour  and  a  half  the  shells  fell  fast,  dealing  "death  and  laying  waste  the  summer  verdure 
in  the  little  graveyard.  Up  to  the  very  guns  of  the  Federals  on  Cemetery  Hill,  Pickett  led  his  devoted  troops.  At  night  of  the  3d 
it  was  one  vast  slaughter-field.  On  this  eminence,  where  thousands  were  buried,  was  dedicated  the  soldiers'  National  Cemetery. 


rttgsburg 


July 
1863 


there  in  the  moonlight  little  rescuing  parties  were  seeking  out 
whom  they  might  succor.  They  carried  many  to  the  impro 
vised  hospitals,  where  the  surgeons  worked  unceasingly  and 
heroically,  and  many  lives  were  saved. 

All  through  the  night  the  Confederates  were  massing  ar 
tillery  along  the  crest  of  Seminary  Ridge.  The  sound  horses 
were  carefully  fed  and  watered,  while  those  killed  or  disabled 
were  replaced  by  others.  The  ammunition  was  replenished  and 
the  guns  were  placed  in  favorable  positions  and  made  ready 
for  their  work  of  destruction. 

On  the  other  side,  the  Federals  were  diligently  laboring 
in  the  moonlight,  and  ere  the  coming  of  the  day  they  had 
planted  batteries  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  above  the  town  as 
far  as  Little  Round  Top.  The  coming  of  the  morning  re 
vealed  the  two  parallel  lines  of  cannon,  a  mile  apart,  which  sig 
nified  only  too  well  the  story  of  what  the  day  would  bring 
forth. 

The  people  of  Gettysburg,  which  lay  almost  between  the 
armies,  were  awakened  on  that  fateful  morning — July  3,  1863 
—by  the  roar  of  artillery  from  Gulp's  Hill,  around  the  bend 
toward  Rock  Creek.  This  knoll  in  the  woods  had,  as  we  have 
seen,  been  taken  by  Johnson's  men  the  night  before.  When 
Geary  and  Ruger  returned  and  found  their  entrenchments  oc 
cupied  by  the  Confederates  they  determined  to  recapture  them 
in  the  morning,  and  began  firing  their  guns  at  daybreak. 
Seven  hours  of  fierce  bombardment  and  daring  charges  were 
required  to  regain  them.  Every  rod  of  space  was  disputed  at 
the  cost  of  many  a  brave  man's  life.  At  eleven  o'clock  this  por 
tion  of  the  Twelfth  Corps  was  again  in  its  old  position. 

But  the  most  desperate  onset  of  the  three  days'  battle  was 
yet  to  come — Pickett's  charge  on  Cemetery  Ridge — preceded 
by  the  heaviest  cannonading  ever  heard  on  the  American  con 
tinent. 

With  the  exception  of  the  contest  at  Culp's  Hill  and  a 
cavalry  fight  east  of  Rock  Creek,  the  forenoon  of  July  3d 


The  Now-or-never  Charge  of  Pickett's 
Men.  When  the  Confederate  artillery 
opened  at  one  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of 
July  3d,  Meade  and  his  staff  were  driven 
from  their  headquarters  on  Cemetery  Ridge. 
Nothing  could  live  exposed  on  that  hill 
side,  swept  by  cannon  that  were  being 
worked  as  fast  as  human  hands  could  work 
them.  It  was  the  beginning  of  Lee's  last 
effort  to  wrest  victory  from  the  odds  that 
were  against  him.  Longstreet,  on  the 
morning  of  the  3d,  had  earnestly  advised 
against  renewing  the  battle  against  the 
Gettysburg  heights.  But  Lee  saw  that  in 
this  moment  the  fate  of  the  South  hung  in 
the  balance;  that  if  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  did  not  win,  it  would  never  again 
become  the  aggressor.  Pickett's  division, 

as  yet  not  engaged,  was  the  force  Lee  designated  for  the 
assault;  every  man  was  a  Virginian,  forming  a  veritable  Tenth 
Legion  in  valor.  Auxiliary  divisions  swelled  the  charging  column 
to  15,000.  In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  the  Federal  guns  ceased 
firing.  The  time  for  the  charge  had  come.  Twice  Pickett 


PICKETT— THE  MARSHALL  NEY 
OF  GETTYSBURG 


asked  of  Longstreet  if  he  should  go 
forward.  Longstreet  merely  bowed  in 
answer.  "Sir,  I  shall  lead  my  division 
forward,"  said  Pickett  at  last,  and 
the  heavy-hearted  Longstreet  bowed  his 
head.  As  the  splendid  column  swept  out  of 
the  woods  and  across  the  plain  the  Federal 
guns  reopened  with  redoubled  fury.  For  a 
mile  Pickett  and  his  men  kept  on,  facing  a 
deadly  greeting  of  round  shot,  canister, 
and  the  bullets  of  Hancock's  resolute  infan 
try.  It  was  magnificent — but  every  one 
of  Pickett's  brigade  commanders  went 
down  and  their  men  fell  by  scores  and 
hundreds  around  them.  A  hundred  led  by 
Armistead,  waving  his  cap  on  his  sword- 
point,  actually  broke  through  and  captured 
a  battery,  Armistead  falling  beside  a  gun. 

It  was  but  for  a  moment.  Longstreet  had  been  right  when  he 
said:  "There  never  was  a  body  of  fifteen  thousand  men  who  could 
make  that  attack  successfully."  Before  the  converging  Federals 
the  thinned  ranks  of  Confederates  drifted  wearily  back  toward 
Seminary  Ridge.  Victory  for  the  South  was  not  to  be. 


MEADE'S  HEADQUARTERS  ON   CEMETERY  RIDGE 


rttgslmrg 


July 
1863 


passed  with  only  an  occasional  exchange  of  shots  at  irregular 
intervals.  At  noon  there  was  a  lull,  almost  a  deep  silence,  over 
the  whole  field.  It  was  the  ominous  calm  that  precedes  the 
storm.  At  one  o'clock  signal  guns  were  fired  on  Seminary 
Ridge,  and  a  few  moments  later  there  was  a  terrific  outburst 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty  Confederate  guns,  and  the  whole 
crest  of  the  ridge,  for  two  miles,  was  a  line  of  flame.  The  scene 
was  majestic  beyond  description.  The  scores  of  batteries  were 
soon  enveloped  in  smoke,  through  which  the  flashes  of  burning 
powder  were  incessant. 

The  long  line  of  Federal  guns  withheld  their  fire  for  some 
minutes,  w7hen  they  burst  forth,  answering  the  thunder  of 
those  on  the  opposite  hill.  An  eye-witness  declares  that  the 
whole  sky  seemed  filled  with  screaming  shells,  whose  sharp  ex 
plosions,  as  they  burst  in  mid-air,  with  the  hurtling  of  the  frag 
ments,  formed  a  running  accompaniment  to  the  deep,  tremen 
dous  roar  of  the  guns. 

Many  of  the  Confederate  shots  went  wild,  passing  over 
the  Union  army  and  plowing  up  the  earth  on  the  other  side  of 
Cemetery  Ridge.  But  others  were  better  aimed  and  burst 
among  the  Federal  batteries,  in  one  of  which  twenty-seven  out 
of  thirty-six  horses  were  killed  in  ten  minutes.  The  Confed 
erate  fire  seemed  to  be  concentrated  upon  one  point  between 
Cemetery  Ridge  and  Little  Round  Top,  near  a  clump  of 
scrub  oaks.  Here  the  batteries  were  demolished  and  men  and 
horses  were  slain  by  scores.  The  spot  has  been  called  "  Bloody 
Angle." 

The  Federal  fire  proved  equally  accurate  and  the  destruc 
tion  on  Seminary  Ridge  was  appalling.  For  nearly  two  hours 
the  hills  shook  with  the  tremendous  cannonading,  when  it  grad 
ually  slackened  and  ceased.  The  Union  army  now  prepared 
for  the  more  deadly  charge  of  infantry  which  it  felt  was  sure 
to  follow.  • 

They  had  not  long  to  wait.  As  the  cannon  smoke  drifted 
away  from  between  the  lines  fifteen  thousand  of  Longstreet's 


U- — <v 


The  prelude  to  Pickett's  magnificent  charge  was  a  sudden  deluge 
of  shells  from  150  long-range  Confederate  guns  trained  upon 
Cemetery  Ridge.  General  Meade  and  his  staff  were  instantly 
driven  from  their  headquarters  (already  illustrated)  and  within 
five  minutes  the  concentrated  artillery  fire  had  swept  every  un 
sheltered  position  on  Cemetery  Ridge  clear  of  men.  In  the  woods, 
a  mile  and  a  half  distant,  Pickett  and  his  men  watched  the  effect 
of  the  bombardment,  expecting  the  order  to  "Go  Forward"  up 
the  slope  (shown  in  the  picture).  The  Federals  had  instantly 
opened  with  their  eighty  available  guns,  and  for  three  hours  the 
most  terrific  artillery  duel  of  the  war  was  kept  up.  Then  the 
Federal  fire  slackened,  as  though  the  batteries  were  silenced. 
The  Confederates'  artillery  ammunition  also  was  now  low.  "  For 
God's  sake,  come  on!"  was  the  word  to  Pickett.  And  at  Long- 
street's  reluctant  nod  the  commander  led  his  14,000  Virginians 
across  the  plain  in  their  tragic  charge  up  Cemetery  Ridge. 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


WHERE    PICKETT    CHARGED 

In  that  historic  charge  was  Armistead,  who  achieved  a  momentary  victory  and  met 
a  hero's  death.  On  across  the  Emmitsburg  road  came  Pickett's  dauntless  brigades, 
coolly  closing  up  the  fearful  chasms  torn  in  their  ranks  by  the  canister.  Up  to 
the  fence  held  by  Hays'  brigade  dashed  the  first  gray  line,  only  to  be  swept  into 
confusion  by  a  cruel  enfilading  fire.  Then  the  brigades  of  Armistead  and  Garnett 
moved  forward,  driving  Hays'  brigade  back  through  the  batteries  on  the  crest. 
Despite  the  death-dealing  bolts  on  all  sides,  Pickett  determined  to  capture  the 
guns;  and,  at  the  order,  Armistead,  leaping  the  fence  and  waving  his  cap  on  his 
sword-point,  rushed  forward,  followed  by  about  a  hundred  of  his  men.  Up  to  the 
very  crest  they  fought  the  Federals  back,  and  Armistead,  shouting,  "  Give  them  the 
cold  steel,  boys! "  seized  one  of  the  guns.  For  a  moment  the  Confederate  flag  waved 
triumphantly  over  the  Federal  battery.  For  a  brief  interval  the  fight  raged  fiercely 
at  close  quarters.  Armistead  was  shot  down  beside  the  gun  he  had  taken,  and  his 
men  were  driven  back.  Pickett,  as  he  looked  around  the  top  of  the  ridge  he  had 
gained,  could  see  his  men  fighting  all  about  with  clubbed  muskets  and  even  flag- 
staffs  against  the  troops  that  were  rushing  in  upon  them  from  all  sides.  Flesh  and 
blood  could  not  hold  the  heights  against  such  terrible  odds,  and  with  a  heart  full  of 
anguish  Pickett  ordered  a  retreat.  The  despairing  Longstreet,  watching  from 
Seminary  Ridge,  saw  through  the  smoke  the  shattered  remnants  drift  sullenly 
down  the  slope  and  knew  that  Pickett's  glorious  but  costly  charge  was  ended. 


GENERAL  L.  A.  ARMISTEAD,  C.S.A. 


corps  emerged  in  grand  columns  from  the  wooded  crest  of 
Seminary  Ridge  under  the  command  of  General  Pickett  on 
the  right  and  General  Pettigrew  on  the  left.  Longstreet  had 
planned  the  attack  with  a  view  to  passing  around  Round  Top, 
and  gaining  it  by  flank  and  reverse  attack,  but  Lee,  when  he 
came  upon  the  scene  a  few  moments  after  the  final  orders  had 
been  given,  directed  the  advance  to  be  made  straight  toward 
the  Federal  main  position  on  Cemetery  Ridge. 

The  charge  was  one  of  the  most  daring  in  warfare.  The 
distance  to  the  Federal  lines  was  a  mile.  For  half  the  distance 
the  troops  marched  gayly,  with  flying  banners  and  glittering 
bayonets.  Then  came  the  burst  of  Federal  cannon,  and  the 
Confederate  ranks  were  torn  with  exploding  shells.  Petti- 
grew's  columns  began  to  waver,  but  the  lines  re-formed  and 
marched  on.  When  they  came  within  musket-range,  Hancock's 
infantry  opened  a  terrific  fire,  but  the  valiant  band  only  quick 
ened  its  pace  and  returned  the  fire  with  volley  after  volley. 
Pettigrew's  troops  succumbed  to  the  storm.  For  now  the  lines 
in  blue  were  fast  converging.  Federal  troops  from  all  parts 
of  the  line  now  rushed  to  the  aid  of  those  in  front  of  Pickett. 
The  batteries  which  had  been  sending  shell  and  solid  shot 
changed  their  ammunition,  and  double  charges  of  grape  and 
canister  were  hurled  into  the  column  as  it  bravely  pressed  into 
the  sea  of  flame.  The  Confederates  came  close  to  the  Federal 
lines  and  paused  to  close  their  ranks.  Each  moment  the  fury 
of  the  storm  from  the  Federal  guns  increased. 

"  Forward,"  again  rang  the  command  along  the  line  of 
the  Confederate  front,  and  the  Southerners  dashed  on.  The 
first  line  of  the  Federals  was  driven  back.  A  stone  wall  be 
hind  them  gave  protection  to  the  next  Federal  force.  Pickett's 
men  rushed  upon  it.  Riflemen  rose  from  behind  and  hurled  a 
death-dealing  volley  into  the  Confederate  ranks.  A  defiant 
cheer  answered  the  volley,  and  the  Southerners  placed  their 
battle-flags  on  the  ramparts.  General  Armistead  grasped  the 
flag  from  the  hand  of  a  falling  bearer,  and  leaped  upon  the 


July 
1863 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW   OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


Headquarters  of  Brigadier-General  Alexander  S.  Webb.  It  devolved  upon  the  man  pictured  here  (booted 
and  in  full  uniform,  before  his  headquarters  tent  to  the  left  of  the  picture)  to  meet  the  shock  of  Pickett's 
great  charge.  With  four  Pennsylvania  regiments  (the  Sixty-Ninth,  Seventy-First,  Seventy-Second,  and 
One  Hundred  and  Sixth)  of  Hancock's  Second  Corps,  Webb  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  Stirred  to  great 
deeds  by  the  example  of  a  patriotic  ancestry,  he  felt  that  upon  his  holding  his  position  depended  the  out 
come  of  the  day.  His  front  had  been  the  focus  of  the  Confederate  artillery  fire.  Batteries  to  right  and 
left  of  his  line  were  practically  silenced.  Young  Lieutenant  Gushing,  mortally  wounded,  fired  the  last 
serviceable  gun  and  fell  dead  as  Pickett's  men  came  on.  Cowan's  First  New  York  Battery  on  the  left  of 
Cushing's  used  canister  on  the  assailants  at  less  than  ten  yards.  Webb  at  the  head  of  the  Seventy-Second 
Pennsylvania  fought  back  the  on-rush,  posting  a  line  of  slightly  wounded  in  his  rear.  Webb  himself  fell 
wounded  but  his  command  checked  the  assault  till  Hall's  brilliant  charge  turned  the  tide  at  this  point. 


wall,  waving  it  in  triumph.  Almost  instantly  he  fell  among 
the  Federal  troops,  mortally  wounded.  General  Garnett,  lead 
ing  his  brigade,  fell  dead  close  to  the  Federal  line.  General 
Kemper  sank,  wounded,  into  the  arms  of  one  of  his  men. 

Pickett  had  entered  a  death-trap.  Troops  from  all  direc 
tions  rushed  upon  him.  Clubbed  muskets  and  barrel-staves  now 
became  weapons  of  warfare.  The  Confederates  began  surren 
dering  in  masses  and  Pickett  ordered  a  retreat.  Yet  the  energy 
of  the  indomitable  Confederates  was  not  spent.  Several  sup 
porting  brigades  moved  forward,  and  only  succumbed  when 
they  encountered  two  regiments  of  Stannard's  Vermont  bri 
gade,  and  the  fire  of  fresh  batteries. 

As  the  remnant  of  the  gallant  division  returned  to  the 
works  on  Seminary  Ridge  General  Lee  rode  out  to  meet  them. 
His  demeanor  was  calm.  His  features  gave  no  evidence  of  his 
disappointment.  With  hat  in  hand  he  greeted  the  men  sym 
pathetically.  "  It  was  all  my  fault,"  he  said.  "  Now  help  me 
to  save  that  which  remains." 

The  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  over.  The  cost  in  men  was 
frightful.  The  losses  of  the  two  armies  reached  fifty  thousand, 
about  half  on  either  side.  More  than  seven  thousand  men  had 
fallen  dead  on  the  field  of  battle. 

The  tide  could  rise  no  higher ;  from  this  point  the  ebb  must 
begin.  Not  only  here,  but  in  the  West  the  Southern  cause 
took  a .  downward  turn ;  for  at  this  very  hour  of  Pickett's 
charge,  Grant  and  Pemberton,  a  thousand  miles  away,  stood 
under  an  oak  tree  on  the  heights  above  the  Mississippi  and  ar»- 
ranged  for  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg. 

Lee  could  do  nothing  but  lead  his  army  back  to  Virginia. 
The  Federals  pursued  but  feebly.  The  Union  victory  was  not 
a  very  decisive  one,  but,  supported  as  it  was  by  the  fall  of  Vicks 
burg,  the  moral  effect  on  the  nation  and  on  the  world  was 
great.  The  period  of  uncertainty  was  ended.  It  required  but 
little  prophetic  vision  to  foresee  that  the  Republic  would  sur 
vive  the  dreadful  shock  of  arms. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  ARMSTRONG  CUSTER  WITH  GENERAL  PLEASONTON 

The  beau  sabreur  of  the  Federal  service  is  pictured  here  in  his  favorite  velvet  suit,  with  General  Alfred  Pleason- 
ton,  who  commanded  the  cavalry  at  Gettysburg.  This  photograph  was  taken  at  Warrenton,  Va.,  three 
months  after  that  battle.  At  the  time  this  picture  was  taken,  Custer  was  a  brigadier-general  in  command 
of  the  second  brigade  of  the  third  division  of  General  Pleasonton's  cavalry.  General  Custer's  impetuosity 
finally  cost  him  his  own  life  and  the  lives  of  his  entire  command  at  the  hands  of  the  Sioux  Indians  June 
25,  1876.  Custer  was  born  in  1839  and  graduated  at  West  Point  in  1861.  As  captain  of  volunteers  he 
served  with  McClellan  011  the  Peninsula.  In  June,  1863,  he  was  made  brigadier-general  of  volunteers  and 
as  the  head  of  a  brigade  of  cavalry  distinguished  himself  at  Gettysburg.  Later  he  served  with  Sheridan  in 
the  Shenandoah,  won  honor  at  Cedar  Creek,  and  was  brevetted  major-general  of  volunteers  on  October  19, 
1864.  Under  Sheridan  he  participated  in  the  battles  of  Five  Forks,  Dinwiddie  Court  House,  and  other 
important  cavalry  engagements  of  Grant's  last  campaign. 


COPYRIGHT,   1911,    REVIEW  OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


SUMTER 


Searching  all  history  for  a  parallel,  it  is  impossible  to  find  any  defenses  of  a  beleaguered  city  that  stood  so 
severe  a  bombardment  as  did  this  bravely  defended  and  never  conquered  fortress  of  Sumter,  in  Charleston 
Harbor.  It  is  estimated  that  about  eighty  thousand  projectiles  were  discharged  from  the  fleet  and  the 
marsh  batteries,  and  yet  Charleston,  with  its  battered  water-front,  was  not  abandoned  until  all  other  Con 
federate  positions  along  the  Atlantic  Coast  were  in  Federal  hands  and  Sherman's  triumphant  army  was 
sweeping  in  from  the  West  and  South.  The  picture  shows  Sumter  from  the  Confederate  Fort  Johnson. 
The  powerful  batteries  in  the  foreground  played  havoc  with  the  Federal  fleet  whenever  it  came  down  the 
main  ship-channel  to  engage  the  forts.  Protected  by  almost  impassable  swamps,  morasses,  and  a  network 
of  creeks  to  the  eastward,  Fort  Johnson  held  an  almost  impregnable  position;  and  from  its  protection  by 
Cummings'  Point,  on  which  was  Battery  Gregg,  the  Federal  fleet  could  not  approach  nearer  than  two  miles. 
Could  it  have  been  taken  by  land  assault  or  reduced  by  gun-fire,  Charleston  would  have  fallen. 


These  views  show  the  re 
sult  of  the  bombardment 
from  August  17  to  23, 
1863.  The  object  was  to 
force  the  surrender  of  the 
fort  and  thus  effect  an 
entrance  into  Charleston. 
The  report  of  Colonel 
John  \V.  Turner,  Federal 
chief  of  artillery  runs: 
"  The  fire  from  the  breach 
ing  batteries  upon  Sumter 
was  incessant,  and  kept 
up  continuously  from  day 
light  till  dark,  until  the 
evening  of  the  23d.  .  .  . 
The  fire  upon  the  gorge 
had,  by  the  morning  of  the 
23d,  succeeded  in  destroy 
ing  every  gun  upon  the 
parapet  of  it.  The  para 


pet  and  ramparts  of  the 
gorge  were  completely 
demolished  for  nearly  the 
entire  length  of  the  face, 
and  in  places  everything 
was  swept  off  down  to  the 
arches,  the  debris  forming 
an  accessible  ramp  to  the 
top  of  the  ruins.  Nothing 
further  being  gained  by  a 
longer  fire  upon  this  face, 
all  the  guns  were  directed 
this  day  upon  the  south 
easterly  flank,  and  con 
tinued  an  incessant  fire 
throughout  the  day.  The 
demolition  of  the  fort  at 
the  close  of  the  day's  firing 
was  complete,  so  far  as  its 
offensive  powers  were  con 
sidered."  So  fared  Sumter. 


WHERE  SHOT  AND   SHELL  STRUCK  SUMTER 


SOME   OF   THE    450   SHOT  A  DAY 


THE   LIGHTHOUSE   ABOVE  THE   DEBRIS 


THE  PARROTT  IN  BATTERY  STRONG 


This  300-pounder  rifle  was  directed  against  Fort  Sumter  and  Battery  Wagner.  The  length  of  bore  of  the  gun  before  it  burst  was 
13G  inches.  It  weighed  26,000  pounds.  It  fired  a  projectile  weighing  250  pounds,  with  a  maximum  charge  of  powder  of  25  pounds. 
The  gun  was  fractured  at  the  twenty-seventh  round  by  a  shell  bursting  in  the  muzzle,  blowing  off  about  20  inches  of  the  barrel. 
After  the  bursting  the  gun  was  "chipped"  back  beyond  the  termination  of  the  fracture  and  afterwards  fired  371  rounds  with  as 
good  results  as  before  the  injury.  At  the  end  of  that  time  the  muzzle  began  to  crack  again,  rendering  the  gun  entirely  useless. 


TWO  PARROTTS  IN  BATTERY  STEVENS 


Battery  Stevens  lay  just  east  of  Battery  Strong.  It  was  begun  July  27,  1863.  Most  of  the  work  was  done  at  night,  for  the  fire 
from  the  adjacent  Confederate  forts  rendered  work  in  daylight  dangerous.  By  August  17th,  most  of  the  guns  were  in  position, 
and  two  days  later  the  whole  series  of  batteries  "on  the  left,"  as  they  were  designated,  were  pounding  away  at  Fort  Sumter. 


IN    CHARLESTON   AFTER   THE   BOMBARDMENT 

So  long  as  the  Confederate  flag  flew  over  the  ramparts  of  Sumter, 
Charleston  remained  the  one  stronghold  of  the  South  that  was 
firmly  held.  That  flag  was  never  struck.  It  was  lowered  for  an 
evacuation,  not  a  surrender.  The  story  of  Charleston's  deter 
mined  resistance  did  not  end  in  triumph  for  the  South,  but  it  did 
leave  behind  it  a  sunset  glory,  in  which  the  valor  and  dash  of  the 
Federal  attack  is  paralleled  by  the  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  of 
the  Confederate  defense,  in  spite  of  wreck  and  ruin. 


The  lower  picture  was  taken 
after  the  war,  when  relic-hunt 
ers  had  removed  the  shells, 
and  a  beacon  light  had  been 
erected  where  once  stood  the 
parapet.  On  September  8, 
1863,  at  the  very  position  in 
these  photographs,  the  garrison 
repelled  a  bold  assault  with 
musketry  fire  alone,  causing 
the  Federals  severe  loss.  The 
flag  of  the  Confederacy  floated 
triumphantly  over  the  position 
during  the  whole  of  the  long- 
struggle.  Every  effort  of  the 
Federals  to  reduce  the  crumb 
ling  ruins  into  submission  was 
unavailing.  It  stood  the  con 
tinual  bombardment  of  iron 
clads  until  it  was  nothing  but 
a  mass  of  brickdust,  but  still 
the  gallant  garrison  held  it. 


SCENE  OF  THE   NIGHT  ATTACK  ON  SUMTER, 
SEPTEMBER    8,    1863 


It  is  strange  that  despite  the 
awful  destruction  the  loss  of 
lives  within  the  fort  was  few. 
For  weeks  the  bombardment, 
assisted  by  the  guns  of  the 
fleet,  tore  great  chasms  in  the 
parapet.  Fort  Sumter  never 
fell,  but  was  abandoned  only 
on  the  approach  of  Sherman's 
army.  It  had  withstood  con 
tinuous  efforts  against  it  for 
587  days.  From  April,  1863, 
to  September  of  the  same  year, 
the  fortress  was  garrisoned  by 
the  First  South  Carolina  Artil 
lery,  enlisted  as  regulars.  After 
ward  the  garrison  was  made  up 
of  detachments  of  infantry  from 
Georgia,  North  Carolina,  and 
South  Carolina.  Artillerists 
also  served  turns  of  duty  dur 
ing  this  period. 


CHICKAMAUGA— THE  BLOODIEST 
CONFLICT  IN  THE  WEST 

In  its  dimensions  and  its  murderousness  the  battle  of  Chickamauga 
was  the  greatest  battle  fought  by  our  Western  armies,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  of  modern  times.  In  our  Civil  War  it  was  exceeded  only  by 
Gettysburg  and  the  Wilderness ;  in  European  history  we  may  compare 
with  it  such  battle's  as  Neerwinden,  or  Malplaquet,  or  Waterloo. — John 
Fiske  in  "The  Mississippi  Valley  in  the  Civil  War." 

fin  HE  town  of  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  lies  in  a  great  bend 
JL  of  the  Tennessee  River  and  within  a  vast  amphitheater 
of  mountains,  ranging  in  a  general  southwesterly  direction, 
and  traversed  at  intervals  by  great  depressions  or  valleys. 
These  passes  form  a  natural  gateway  from  the  mid-Mississippi 
valley  to  the  seaboard  States.  To  dislodge  the  Confederate 
army  under  General  Bragg  from  this  natural  fortress  would 
remove  the  last  barrier  to  the  invading  Federals,  and  permit  an 
easy  entry  upon  the  plains  of  Georgia.  The  importance  of 
this  position  was  readily  apparent  to  the  Confederate  Govern 
ment,  and  any  approach  by  the  Federal  forces  toward  this 
point  was  almost  certain  to  be  met  by  stubborn  resistance. 

Rosecrans'  forward  movement  from  Murfreesboro,  in  the 
early  summer  of  1863,  forced  Bragg  over  the  Cumberland 
Mountains  and  across  the  Tennessee.  The  Confederate  leader 
destroyed  the  railroad  bridge  at  Bridgeport  and  entrenched 
himself  in  and  around  Chattanooga.  The  three  Federal  corps 
under  Crittenden,  Thomas  and  McCook  crossed  the  Tennessee 
without  meeting  resistance,  and  began  to  endanger  Bragg's 
lines  of  communication.  But  on  September  8th,  before  their 
moves  had  been  accomplished,  Bragg  abandoned  his  stronghold. 


.'  i, 


Ijtrkamauga — VUudfeat  0I0nflirt  in 


Crittenden  the  next  day  marched  around  the  north  end  of 
Lookout  and  entered  the  town,  while  Hazen  and  Wagner 
crossed  over  from  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Tennessee. 

Rosecrans  believed  that  Bragg  was  in  full  retreat  toward 
Rome,  Georgia,  and  Crittenden,  leaving  one  brigade  in  Chat 
tanooga,  was  ordered  to  pursue.  Bragg  encouraged  his  ad 
versary  in  the  belief  that  he  was  avoiding  an  engagement 
and  sent  spies  as  deserters  into  the  Federal  ranks  to  narrate 
the  details  of  his  flight.  M  can  while,  he  was  concentrating  at 


Lafayette,    about   twenty-five   miles   south    of    Chattanooga.   \ 

•7  '  *  ^""^-O 

Hither  General  S.  B.  Buckner,  entirely  too  weak  to  cope 
with  Burnside's  heavy  column  approaching  from  Kentucky, 
brought  his  troops  from  Knoxville.  Breckinridge  and  two 
brigades  arrived  from  Mississippi,  while  twelve  thousand  of 
Lee's  veterans,  under  Lee's  most  trusted  and  illustrious  lieu 
tenant,  Longstreet,  were  hastening  from  Virginia  to  add  their 
numbers  to  Bragg's  Army  of  Tennessee. 

The  three  corps  of  the  Union  army,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
now  separated  over  a  wide  extent  of  territory  by  intervening 
ridges,  so  intent  was  Rosecrans  on  intercepting  the  vanished 
Bragg.  But  the  latter,  by  no  means  vanished,  and  with  his 
face  toward  Chattanooga,  considered  the  position  of  his  an 
tagonist  and  discovered  his  own  army  almost  opposite  the 
Federal  center.  Crittenden  was  advancing  toward  Ringgold, 
and  the  remoteness  of  Thomas'  corps  on  his  right  precluded 
any  immediate  union  of  the  Federal  forces. 

Bragg  wras  quick  to  grasp  the  opportunity  made  by  Rose 
crans'  division  of  the  army  in  the  face  of  his  opponent.  He 
at  once  perceived  the  possibilities  of  a  master-stroke;  to  crush 
Thomas'  advanced  divisions  with  an  overwhelming  force. 

The  attempt  failed,  owing  to  a  delay  in  the  attack,  which 
permitted  the  endangered  Baird  and  Negley  to  fall  back. 
Bragg  then  resolved  to  throw  himself  upon  Crittenden,  who 
had  divided  his  corps.  Polk  was  ordered  to  advance  upon  that 
portion  of  it  at  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mills,  but  when  Bragg  came 


THE  CONFEDERATE  LEADER  AT  CHICKAMAUGA 


Major-General  Braxton  Bragg,  C.S.A.  Born,  1815;  West  Point,  1837; 
Died,  1876.  Bragg's  name  before  1861  was  perhaps  better  known  in  mili 
tary  annals  than  that  of  any  other  Southern  leader  because  of  his  brilliant 
record  in  the  Mexican  War.  In  the  Civil  War  he  distinguished  himself 
first  at  Shiloh  and  by  meritorious  services  thereafter.  But  his  delays  ren 
dered  him  scarcely  a  match  for  Rosecrans,  to  say  nothing  of  Grant  and 
Sherman.  Flanked  out  of  two  strong  positions,  he  missed  the  opportunity 
presented  by  Rosecrans'  widely  separated  forces  and  failed  to  crush  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland  in  detail,  as  it  advanced  to  the  battle  of  Chick- 
amauga.  The  error  cost  the  Confederates  the  loss  of  Tennessee,  eventually. 


I 

(fi  ijtrkamauga; — 


(Ennfltrt  in  tty  Heat  •*• 


to  the  front  September  13th,  expecting  to  witness  the  anni 
hilation  of  the  Twenty-first  Corps,  he  found  to  his  bitter  dis 
appointment  that  the  bishop-general  had  made  no  move  and 
that  Crittenden  had  reunited  his  divisions  and  was  safe  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Chickamauga.  Thus  his  splendid  chances  of 
breaking  up  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  were  ruined. 

When  Bragg's  position  became  known  to  Rosecrans, 
great  was  his  haste  to  effect  the  concentration  of  his  army. 
Couriers  dashed  toward  Alpine  with  orders  for  McCook  to 
join  Thomas  with  the  utmost  celerity.  The  former  started  at 
once,  shortly  after  midnight  on  the  13th,  in  response  to 
Thomas's  urgent  call.  It  was  a  real  race  of  life  and  death, 
attended  by  the  greatest  hardships.  Ignorant  of  the  roads, 
McCook  submitted  his  troops  to  a  most  exhausting  march, 
twice  up  and  down  the  mountain,  fifty-seven  miles  of  the  most 
arduous  toil,  often  dragging  artillery  up  by  hand  and  letting 
it  down  steep  declines  by  means  of  ropes.  But  he  closed  up 
with  Thomas  on  the  17th,  and  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland 
was  saved  from  its  desperate  peril. 

Crittenden's  corps  now  took  position  at  Lee  and  Gordon's 
Mills  on  the  left  bank  of  Chickamauga  Creek,  and  the  Federal 
troops  were  all  within  supporting  distance.  In  the  Indian 
tongue  Chickamauga  means  "  The  River  of  Death,"  a  name 
strangely  prophetic  of  that  gigantic  conflict  soon  to  be  waged 
by  these  hostile  forces  throughout  this  beautiful  and  heretofore 
peaceful  valley. 

The  Confederate  army,  its  corps  under  Generals  Polk,  D. 
H.  Hill,  and  Buckner,  was  stationed  on  the  east  side  of  the 
stream,  its  right  wing  below  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mills,  and  the 
left  extending  up  the  creek  toward  Lafayette.  On  the  Federal 
side  Thomas  was  moved  to  the  left,  with  Crittenden  in  the  cen 
ter  and  McCook  on  the  right.  Their  strength  has  been  esti 
mated  at  fifty-five  to  sixty-nine  thousand  men.  On  the  18th, 
Long-street's  troops  were  arriving  from  Virginia,  and  by  the 
morning  of  the  19th  the  greater  part  of  the  Confederate  army 


THOMAS— THE  "ROCK  OF  CHICKAMAUGA"   WHO  BECAME  THE   "SLEDGE  OF  NASHVILLE" 

Major-General  George  Henry  Thomas,  Virginia-born  soldier  loyal  to  the  L'nion;  commended  for  gallantry  in  the  Seminole  War,  and 
for  service  in  Mexico;  won  the  battle  of  Mill  Spring,  January  19,  1862;  commanded  the  right  wing  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
against  Corinth  and  at  Perryville,  and  the  center  at  Stone's  River.  Only  his  stability  averted  overwhelming  defeat  for  the  Federals 
at  Chickamauga.  At  Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge  he  was  a  host  in  himself.  After  Sherman  had  taken  Atlanta  he  sent 
Thomas  back  to  Tennessee  to  grapple  with  Hood.  How  he  crushed  Hood  by  his  sledge-hammer  blows  is  told  in  the  story  of  "Nash 
ville."  Thomas,  sitting  down  in  Nashville,  bearing  the  brunt  of  Grant's  impatience,  and  ignoring  completely  the  proddings  from  Wash 
ington  to  advance  before  he  was  ready,  while  he  waited  grimly  for  the  psychological  moment  to  strike  the  oncoming  Confederate  host 
under  Hood,  is  one  of  the  really  big  dramatic  figures  of  the  entire  war.  It  has  been  well  said  of  Thomas  that  every  promotion  he  re 
ceived  was  a  reward  of  merit;  and  that  during  his  long  and  varied  career  as  a  soldier  no  crisis  ever  arose  too  great  for  his  ability. 


ijtrkmnauga — ]Bi00ito0t  Cnnfltrt  tn  %  Wt&t 


\ 


V\ 


had  crossed  the  Chickamauga.  The  two  mighty  armies  were 
now  face  to  face,  and  none  could  doubt  that  the  impending 
struggle  would  be  attended  by  frightful  loss  to  both  sides. 

It  was  Bragg's  intention  to  send  Polk,  commanding  the 
right  wing,  in  a  flanking  movement  against  the  Federal  left 
under  Thomas,  and  thus  intervene  between  it  and  Chattanooga. 
The  first  encounter,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  19th, 
resulted  in  a  Confederate  repulse,  but  fresh  divisions  were  con 
stantly  pushed  forward  under  the  deadly  fire  of  the  Federal 
artillery.  The  Federals  were  gradually  forced  back  by  the  in 
cessant  charge  of  the  Confederates;  but  assailed  and  assailant 
fought  with  such  great  courage  and  determination  that  any 
decided  advantage  was  withheld  from  either]  Meanwhile,  the 
Federal  right  was  hard  pressed  by  Hood,  commanding  Long- 
street's  corps,  and  a  desperate  battle  ensued  along  the  entire 
line.  It  seemed,  however,  more  like  a  struggle  between  sepa 
rate  divisions  than  the  clash  of  two  great  armies.  When  night 
descended  the  Federals  had  been  forced  back  from  the  creek, 
but  the  result  had  been  indecisive. 

Disaster  to  the  Union  army  had  been  averted  by  the  use 
of  powerful  artillery  when  the  infantry  seemed  unable  to  with 
stand  the  onslaught.  Rosecrans  had  assumed  the  defensive, 
and  his  troops  had  so  far  receded  as  to  enable  the  Confederates 
to  form  their  lines  on  all  the  territory  fought  over  on  that 
day.  During  the  night  preparations  were  made  in  both  camps 
for  a  renewal  of  the  battle  on  the  following  morning,  which 
was  Sunday.  A  fresh  disposition  of  the  troops  was  made  by 
both  leaders.  |  Near  midnight  General  Longstreet  arrived  on 
the  field,  and  was  at  once  placed  in  command  of  the  Confed 
erate  left,  Polk  retaining  the  right.  Not  all  of  Longstreet's 
troops  arrived  in  time  for  the  battle,  but  Bragg's  force  has  been 
estimated  at  fifty-one  to  seventy-one  thousand  strong. 

Thomas  was  given  command  of  the  Union  left,  with  Mc- 
Cook  at  his  right,  while  Crittenden's  forces  occupied  the  center, 
but  to  the  rear  of  both  Thomas  and  McCook.  Thomas  had 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


BEFORE  CHICKAMAUGA— IN  THE  RUSH  OF  EVENTS 


Rarely  does  the  camera  afford  such  a  perfectly  contemporaneous  record  of  the  march  of  events  so  momentous. 
This  photograph  s-liows  the  hotel  at  Stevenson,  Alabama,  during  the  Union  advance  that  ended  in  Chicka- 
mauga.  Sentinels  are  parading  the  street  in  front  of  the  hotel,  several  horses  are  tied  to  the  hotel  posts,  and 
the  officers  evidently  have  gone  into  the  hotel  headquarters.  General  Alexander  McDowell  McCook,  com 
manding  the  old  Twentieth  Army  Corps,  took  possession  of  the  hotel  as  temporary  headquarters  on  the 
movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  from  Tullahoma.  On  August  29, 1863,  between  Stevenson  and 
Caperton's  Ferry,  on  the  Tennessee  River,  McCook  gathered  his  boats  and  pontoons,  hidden  under  the  dense 
foliage  of  overhanging  trees,  and  when  ready  for  his  crossing  suddenly  launched  them  into  and  across  the 
river.  Thence  the  troops  marched  over  Sand  Mountain  and  at  length  into  Lookout  Valley.  During  the 
movements  the  army  was  in  extreme  peril,  for  McCook  was  at  one  time  three  days'  march  from  Thomas,  so 
that  Bragg  might  have  annihilated  the  divisions  in  detail.  Finally  the  scattered  corps  were  concentrated 
along  Chickamauga  Creek,  where  the  bloody  struggle  of  September  19th  and  20th  was  so  bravely  fought. 


H00Jto0t  Qlnnfltrt  in 


spent  the  night  in  throwing  up  breastworks  on  the  brow  of 
Snodgrass  Hill,  as  it  was  anticipated  that  the  Confederates 
would  concentrate  their  attack  upon  his  position. 

Hostilities  began  with  a  general  movement  of  the  Confed 
erate  right  wing  in  an  attempt  to  flank  the  Union  left.  Gen 
eral  Bragg  had  ordered  Polk  to  begin  the  attack  at  daybreak, 
but  it  was  nearly  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  before  Breckin- 
ridge's  division,  supported  by  General  Cleburne,  advanced 
upon  Thomas'  entrenchments.  Fighting  desperately,  the  Con 
federates  did  not  falter  under  the  heavy  fire  of  the  Federals, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  the  latter  must  be  driven  from  their  position. 
Rosecrans,  in  response  to  urgent  requests  for  reenforcements, 
despatched  troops  again  and  again  to  the  aid  of  Thomas,  and 
the  assault  was  finally  repulsed.  Cleburne's  division  was  driven 
back  with  heavy  loss,  and  Breckinridge,  unable  to  retain  any 
advantage,  was  forced  to  defend  his  right,  which  was  being 
seriously  menaced.  ;  The  battle  at  this  point  had  been  desper- 
/ately  waged,  both  sides  exhibiting  marked  courage  and  deter 
mination.  As  on  the  previous  day,  the  Confederates  had  been 
the  aggressors,  but  the  Federal  troops  had  resisted  all  attempts 
to  invade  their  breastworks. 

However,  the  fortunes  of  battle  were  soon  to  incline  to  the 
side  of  the  Southern  army.  Bragg  sent  Stewart's  division  for 
ward,  and  it  pressed  Reynolds'  and  Brannan's  men  back  to 
their  entrenchments.  Rosecrans  sent  Wood  word  to  close  up 
on  Reynolds.  Through  some  misunderstanding  in  giving  or 
interpreting  this  order,  General  Wood  withdrew  his  division 
from  its  position  on  the  right  of  Brannan.  By  this  movement 
a  large  opening  was  left  almost  in  the  center  of  the  battle-line. 
Johnson's,  Hindman's,  and  Kershaw's  divisions  rushed  into  the 
gap  and  fell  upon  the  Union  right  and  center  with  an  impetus 
that  was  irresistible.  The  Confederate  general,  Bushrod  John 
son,  has  given  us  an  unf  orgetable  picture  of  the  thrilling  event : 
'  The  resolute  and  impetuous  charge,  the  rush  of  our  heavy 
columns  sweeping  out  from  the  shadow  and  gloom  of  the  forest 


COPYRIGHT,  1911,    REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  CHICKAMAUGA 

% 

This  solitary  observer,  if  he  was  standing  here  September  20,  1863,  shortly  before  this  was  photographed, 
certainly  gazed  at  the  base  of  the  hill  to  the  left.  For  through  the'pass  called  Rossville  Gap  a  column  in  blue  was 
streaming — Steedman's  Division  of  the  Reserve  Corps,  rushing  to  aid  Thomas,  so  sore  pressed  atChickamauga. 
Those  slopes  by  Chickamauga  Creek  witnessed  the  deadliest  battle  in  the  West  and  the  highest  in  percent 
age  of  killed  and  wounded  of  the  entire  war.  It  was  fought  as  a  result  of  Rosecrans'  attempt  to  maneuver 
Bragg  out  of  Chattanooga.  The  Federal  army  crossed  the  Tennessee  River  west  of  the  city,  passed  through 
the  mountain-ranges,  and  came  upon  Bragg's  line  of  communications.  Finding  his  position  untenable, 
the  Southern  leader  moved  southward  and  fell  upon  the  united  forces  of  Rosecrans  along  Chickamauga 
Creek.  The  vital  point  in  the  Federal  line  was  the  left,  held  by  Thomas.  Should  that  give  way,  the  army 
would  be  cut  off  from  Chattanooga,  with  no  base  to  fall  back  on.  The  heavy  fighting  of  September  19th 
showed  that  Bragg  realized  the  situation.  Brigades  and  regiments  were  shattered.  For  a  time,  the  Union 
army  was  driven  back.  But  at  nightfall  Thomas  had  regained  the  lost  ground.  He  re-formed  during  the 
night  in  order  to  protect  the  road  leading  into  Chattanooga.  Since  the  second  day  was  foggy  till  the  middle 
of  the  forenoon,  the  fighting  was  not  renewed  till  late.  About  noon  a  break  was  made  in  the  right  of  the  Fed 
eral  battle-line,  into  which  the  eager  Longstreet  promptly  hurled  his  men.  Colonel  Dodge  writes:  "Every 
thing  seems  lost.  The  entire  right  of  the  army,  with  Rosecrans  and  his  staff,  is  driven  from  the  field  in  utter 
rout.  But,  unknown  even  to  the  commanding  general,  Thomas,  the  Rock  of  Chickamauga,  stands  there  at 
bay,  surrounded,  facing  two  to  one.  Heedless  of  the  wreck  of  one-half  the  army,  he  knows  not  how  to  yield." 


Ijtrkammtga — Itenfttest  OInnfltrt  in  %  Wt&t 


into  the  open  fields  flooded  with  sunlight,  the  glitter  of  arms, 
the  onward  dash  of  artillery  and  mounted  men,  the  retreat  of 
the  foe,  the  shouts  of  the  hosts  of  our  army,  the  dust,  the  smoke, 
the  noise  of  fire-arms — of  whistling  balls,  and  grape-shot,  and 
of  bursting  shell — made  up  a  battle-scene  of  unsurpassed 
grandeur.  Here,  General  Hood  gave  me  the  last  order  I 
received  from  him  on  the  field,  '  Go  ahead  and  keep  ahead 
of  everything.' '  A  moment  later,  and  Hood  fell,  severely 
wounded,  with  a  minie  ball  in  his  thigh. 

Wood's  right  brigade  was  shattered  even  before  it  had 
cleared  the  opening.  Sheridan's  entire  division,  and  part  of 
Davis'  and  Van  Cleve's,  were  driven  from  the  field.  Long- 
street  now  gave  a  fine  exhibition  of  his  military  genius.  The 
orders  of  battle  were  to  separate  the  two  wings  of  the  opposing 
army.  But  with  the  right  wing  of  his  opponents  in  hopeless 
ruin,  he  wheeled  to  the  right  and  compelled  the  further  with 
drawal  of  Federal  troops  in  order  to  escape  being  surrounded. 
The  brave  soldier-poet,  William  H.  Lytle,  fell  at  the  head  of 
his  brigade  as  he  strove  to  re-form  his  line.  McCook  and  Crit- 
teriden  were  unable,  in  spite  of  several  gallant  efforts,  to  rally 
their  troops  and  keep  back  the  onrushing  heroes  of  Stone's 
River  and  Bull  Run.  The  broken  mass  fled  in  confusion 
toward  Chattanooga,  carrying  with  it  McCook,  Crittenden, 
and  Rosecrans.  The  latter  telegraphed  to  Washington  that 
his  army  had  been  beaten.  In  this  famous  charge  the  Con 
federates  took  several  thousand  prisoners  and  forty  pieces  of 
artillery. 

Flushed  with  victory,  the  Confederates  now  concentrated 
their  attack  upon  Thomas,  who  thus  far,  on  Horseshoe  Ridge 
and  its  spurs,  had  repelled  all  attempts  to  dislodge  him.  The 
Confederates,  with  victory  within  their  grasp,  and  led  by  the 
indomitable  Longstreet,  swarmed  up  the  slopes  in  great 
numbers,  but  they  were  hurled  back  with  fearful  slaughter. 
Thomas  was  looking  anxiously  for  Sheridan,  whom,  as  he 
knew,  Rosecrans  had  ordered  with  two  brigades  to  his  support. 


V 


THE  TOO-ADVANCED  POSITION 

Crawfish  Spring,  to  the  South  of  the  Chicka manga  Battle-field.  Rosecrans,  in  concentrating  his  troops  on  the  18th  of  September,  was 
still  possessed  of  the  idea  that  Bragg  was  covering  his  retreat  upon  his  railroad  connections  at  Dalton.  Instead,  the  Confederate  com 
mander  had  massed  his  forces  on  the  other  side  of  Chicka mauga  and  was  only  awaiting  the  arrival  of  Longstreet  to  assume  the  aggressive. 
On  the  morning  of  the  19th,  McCook's  right  wing  at  Crawfish  Spring  was  strongly  threatened  by  the  Confederates,  while  the  real  attack 
was  made  against  the  left  in  an  effort  to  turn  it  and  cut  Rosecrans  off  from  a  retreat  upon  Chattanooga.  All  day  long,  brigade  after 
brigade  was  marched  from  the  right  of  the  Federal  line  in  order  to  extend  the  left  under  Thomas  and  withstand  this  flanking  movement. 
Even  after  nightfall,  Thomas,  trying  to  re-form  his  lines  and  carry  them  still  farther  to  the  left  for  the  work  of  the  morrow,  brought  on  a 
sharp  conflict  in  the  darkness.  The  Confederates  had  been  held  back,  but  at  heavy  cost.  That  night,  at  the  Widow  Glenn's  house, 
Rosecrans  consulted  his  generals.  The  exhausted  Thomas,  when  roused  from  sleep  for  his  opinion,  invariably  answered,  "I  would 
strengthen  the  left."  There  seemed  as  yet  to  be  no  crisis  at  hand,  and  the  council  closed  with  a  song  by  the  debonair  McCook. 


mm, 


\ 


(Ennfltrt  in 


But  in  Longstreet's  rout  of  the  right  wing  Sheridan,  with  the 
rest,  had  been  carried  on  toward  Chattanooga,  and  he  found 
himself  completely  cut  off  from  Thomas,  as  the  Confederates 
were  moving  parallel  to  him.  Yet  the  indomitable  Sheridan, 
in  spite  of  his  terrible  experience  of  the  morning,  did  not  give 
up  the  attempt.  Foiled  in  his  efforts  to  get  through  McFar- 
land's  Gap,  he  moved  quickly  on  Rossville  and  came  down  the 
Lafayette  road  toward  Thomas'  left  flank. 

Meanwhile,  advised  by  the  incessant  roar  of  musketry, 
General  Gordon  Granger,  in  command  of  the  reserve  corps 
near  Rossville,  advanced  rapidly  with  his  fresh  troops.  Acting 
with  promptness  and  alacrity  under  orders,  Granger  sent  Steed- 
man  to  Thomas'  right. 

Directly  across  the  line  of  Thomas'  right  was  a  ridge,  on 
which  Longstreet  stationed  Hindman  with  a  large  command, 
ready  for  an  attack  on  Thomas'  flank — a  further  and  terrible 
menace  to  the  nearly  exhausted  general,  but  it  was  not  all.  In 
the  ridge  was  a  small  gap,  and  through  this  Kershaw  was  pour 
ing  his  division,  intent  on  getting  to  Thomas'  rear.  Rosecrans 
thus  describes  the  help  afforded  to  Thomas:  "  Steedman,  tak 
ing  a  regimental  color,  led  the  column.  Swift  was  the  charge 
and  terrible  the  conflict,  but  the  enemy  was  broken." 

The  fighting  grew  fiercer,  and  at  intervals  was  almost 
hand  to  hand.  The  casualties  among  the  officers,  who  fre 
quently  led  their  troops  in  person,  were  mounting  higher  and 
higher  as  the  moments  passed.  All  the  afternoon  the  assaults 
continued,  but  the  Union  forces  stood  their  ground.  Ammuni 
tion  ran  dangerously  low,  but  Steedman  had  brought  a  small 
supply,  and  when  this  was  distributed  each  man  had  about  ten 
rounds.  Finally,  as  the  sun  was  setting  in  the  west,  the  Con 
federate  troops  advanced  in  a  mighty  concourse.  The  com 
bined  forces  of  Kershaw,  Law,  Preston,  and  Hindman  once 
more  rushed  forward,  gained  possession  of  their  lost  ridge  at 
several  points,  but  were  unable  to  drive  their  attack  home. 
In  many  places  the  LTnion  lines  stood  firm  and  both  sides 


Sept. 
1863 


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rested  in  the  positions  taken.  The  plucky  Thomas  was  saved. 
The  onslaught  on  the  Federal  left  of  the  battlefield  was  one 
of  the  heaviest  attacks  made  on  a  single  point  during  the  war. 

History  records  no  grander  spectacle  than  Thomas'  stand 
at  Chickamauga.  He  was  ever  afterwards  known  as  "  The 
Rock  of  Chickamauga."  Under  the  cover  of  darkness, 
Thomas,  having  received  word  from  Rosecrans  to  withdraw, 
retired  his  army  in  good  order  to  Rossville,  and  on  the  follow 
ing  day  rejoined  Rosecrans  in  Chattanooga.  The  battle  of 
Chickamauga,  considering  the  forces  engaged,  was  one  of  the 
most  destructive  of  the  Civil  War.  The  Union  army  lost 
approximately  sixteen  thousand  men,  and  while  the  loss  to  the 
Confederate  army  is  not  definitely  known,  it  was  probably 
nearly  eighteen  thousand.  The  personal  daring  and  tenacious 
courage  displayed  in  the  ranks  of  both  armies  have  never  been 
excelled  on  any  battlefield.  The  Confederate  generals,  Helm, 
Deshler,  and  Preston  Smith  were  killed;  Adams,  Hood,  Brown, 
Gregg,  Clayton,  Hindman,  and  McNair  were  wounded.  The 
Federal  side  lost  Lytl^.  The  battle  is  generally  considered  a 
Confederate  victory,  and  yet,  aside  from  the  terrible  loss  of 
human  life,  no  distinct  advantage  accrued  to  either  ade.\  *The 
Federal  army  retained  possession  of  Chattanooga,ybut^  the 
Confederates  had  for  the  time  checked  the  Army  of  the  Cum 
berland  from  a  further  occupation  of  Southern  soil. 

It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that  the  generals-in-chief  of 
both  armies  exercised  but  little  supervision  over  the  movements 
of  their  respective  troops.  The  brunt  of  the  battle  fell,  for  the 
most  part,  upon  the  commanders  of  the  wings.  To  the  subor 
dinate  generals  on  each  side  were  awarded  the  highest  honors. 
Longstreet,  because  of  his  eventful  charge,  which  swept  the 
right  wing  of  the  Union  army  from  the  field,  was  proclaimed 
the  victor  of  Chickamauga;  and  to  General  Thomas,  who  by 
his  firmness  and  courage  withstood  the  combined  attack  of  the 
Confederate  forces  when  disaster  threatened  on  every  side,  is 
due  the  brightest  laurels  from  the  adherents  of  the  North. 


COPYRIGHT,    '9H.    REVIEW  OF  REVIEW 


THE  HOUSE  WHENCE  HELP  CAME 


Here,  at  his  headquarters,  holding  the  Federal  line  of  retreat  at  Rossville  Gap  (the  Confederate  objective 
in  the  battle),  General  Gordon  Granger  heard  with  increasing  anxiety  the  sounds  of  the  conflict,  three  miles 
away,  growing  more  and  more  ominous.  Finally,  in  disobedience  of  orders,  he  set  in  motion  his  three  brigades 
to  the  relief  of  Thomas,  pushing  forward  two  of  them  under  Steedman.  These  arrived  upon  the  field  early 
in  the  afternoon,  the  most  critical  period  of  the  battle,  as  Longstreet  charged  afresh  on  Thomas'  right  and 
rear.  Seizing  a  battle-flag,  Steedman  (at  the  order  of  General  Granger)  led  his  command  in  a  counter 
charge  which  saved  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  This  old  house  at  Rossville  was  built  by  John  Ross,  a 
chief  of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  he  lived  in  it  till  1832,  giving  his  name  to  the  hamlet.  Half-breed  descend 
ants  of  the  Cherokees  who  had  intermarried  with  both  whites  and  Negroes  were  numerous  in  the  vicinity 
of  Chickamauga,  and  many  of  them  fought  with  their  white  neighbors  on  the  Confederate  side. 


THE  BATTLES  ON  LOOKOUT 
MOUNTAIN  AND  MISSIONARY  RIDGE 

AFTER  CHATTANOOGA  :  "  The  Confederate  lines  .  .  .  could  not  be 
rebuilt.  The  material  for  reconstructing  them  was  exhausted.  The  blue- 
crested  flood  which  had  broken  these  lines  was  not  disappearing.  The 
fountains  which  supplied  it  were  exhaustless.  It  was  still  coming  with  an 
ever  increasing  current,  swelling  higher  and  growing  more  resistless.  This 
triune  disaster  [Vicksburg,  Gettysburg,  Missionary  Ridge]  was  especially 
depressing  to  the  people  because  it  came  like  a  blight  upon  their  hopes 
which  had  been  awakened  by  recent  Confederate  victories." — General 
John  B.  Gordon,  C.  S.  A.,  in  "Reminiscences  of  the  Civil  War." 

FOLLOWING  the  defeat  of  Rosecrans'  army  at  Chick- 
amauga,  in  September,  1863,  Bragg  at  once  took  strong 
positions  on  Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain.  From 
these  heights  he  was  able  to  besiege  the  entire  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  in  Chattanooga  and  obstruct  the  main  arteries  of 
supply  to  the  Federal  troops.  Rosecrans  was  forced  to  aban 
don  the  route  along  the  south  bank  of  the  Tennessee  River, 
which  led  from  Bridgeport,  in  Alabama,  and  to  depend  ex 
clusively  upon  a  long  and  mountainous  wagon  road  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river  for  the  transportation  of  supplies.  The 
Confederate  cavalry,  crossing  the  Tennessee  above  Chatta 
nooga,  fell  upon  the  trains  entangled  in  the  mud  of  the  Se- 
quatchie  valley,  destroying  in  one  day  three  hundred  wagons, 
and  killing  or  capturing  about  eighteen  hundred  mules. 
Within  a  short  time  the  wisdom  of  Bragg's  plan  became  appar 
ent;  famine  threatened  the  Union  army  and  several  thousand 
horses  and  mules  had  already  died  from  starvation.  By  his 
relentless  vigil,  the  Confederate  leader  seemed  destined  to 
achieve  a  greater  victory  over  his  opponent  than  had  hitherto 
attended  his  efforts  in  actual  conflict. 


G- 


M 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    PATRIOT   PUB.    CO. 


THE  BESIEGED 


At  this  point,  where  Citico  Creek  joins  the  Tennessee,  the  left  of  the  Eleventh  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  rested  on  the  river 
bank,  the  limit  of  the  Federal  line  of  defense,  east  of  Chattanooga.  Here,  on  high  ground  overlooking  the  stream,  was  posted  Battery 
McAloon  to  keep  the  Confederates  back  from  the  river,  so  that  timber  and  firewood  could  be  rafted  down  to  the  besieged  army.  In  the 
chill  of  autumn,  with  scanty  rations,  the  soldiers  had  a  hard  time  keeping  warm,  as  all  fuel  within  the  lines  had  been  consumed.  The 
Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  almost  conquered  by  hardship.  Grant  feared  that  the  soldiers  "could  not  be  got  out  of  their  trenches  to 
assume  the  offensive."  But  it  was  these  very  men  who  achieved  the  most  signal  victory  in  the  battle  of  Chattanooga. 


Meanwhile,  a  complete  reorganization  of  the  Federal 
forces  in  the  West  was  effected.  Under  the  title  of  the  Military 
Division  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Departments  of  the  Ohio,  the 
Cumberland,  and  the  Tennessee  were  united  with  Grant  as 
general  commanding,  and  Rosecrans  was  replaced  by  Thomas 
at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 

A  hurried  concentration  of  the  Federal  forces  was  now 
ordered  by  General  Halleck.  Hooker  with  fifteen  thousand 
men  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  came  rapidly  by  rail  to 
Bridgeport.  Sherman,  with  a  portion  of  his  army,  about 
twenty  thousand  strong,  was  summoned  from  Vicksburg  and 
at  once  embarked  in  steamers  for  Memphis.  General  Grant 
decided  to  assume  personal  charge  of  the  Federal  forces;  but 
before  he  reached  his  new  command,  Thomas,  ably  assisted 
by  his  chief  engineer,  General  W.  F.  Smith,  had  begun  to  act 
on  a  plan  which  Rosecrans  had  conceived,  and  which  proved 
in  the  end  to  be  a  brilliant  conception.  This  was  to  seize  a  low 
range  of  hills  known  as  Raccoon  Mountain  on  the  peninsula 
made  by  a  bend  of  the  river,  on  its  south  side  and  west  of 
Chattanooga,  and  establish  a  wagon  road  to  Kelly's  Ferry,  a 
point  farther  down  the  river  to  which  supplies  could  be  brought 
by  boat  from  Bridgeport,  and  at  the  same  time  communica 
tion  effected  with  Hooker. 

A  direct  line  was  not  only  secured  to  Bridgeport,  but 
Hooker  advanced  with  a  portion  of  his  troops  into  Lookout 
Valley  and  after  a  short  but  decisive  skirmish  drove  the  Con 
federates  across  Lookout  Creek,  leaving  his  forces  in  posses 
sion  of  the  hills  he  had  gained.  The  route  was  now  opened 
between  Bridgeport  and  Brown's  Ferry;  abundant  supplies 
were  at  once  available  and  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  re 
lieved  of  its  perilous  position. 

Unlike  the  condition  which  had  prevailed  at  Chickamauga, 
reenforcements  from  all  sides  were  hastening  to  the  aid  of 
Thomas'  army;  Hooker  was  already  on  the  ground;  Sher 
man  was  advancing  rapidly  from  Memphis,  and  he  arrived  in 


OPENING   "THE   CRACKER  LINE" 


The  U.  S.  S.  Chattanooga  was  the  first  steamboat  built  by  the  Federals  on  the  upper  Tennessee  River.  Had 
the  gunboats  on  the  Ohio  been  able  to  come  up  the  Tennessee  River  nearly  three  hundred  miles,  to  the  assist 
ance  of  Rosecrans,  Bragg  could  never  have  bottled  him  up  in  Chattanooga.  But  between  Florence  and 
Decatur,  Alabama,  Muscle  Shoals  lay  in  the  stream,  making  the  river  impassable.  While  Bragg's  pickets  in 
vested  the  railroad  and  river,  supplies  could  not  be  brought  up  from  Bridgeport;  and  besides,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  one  small  steamboat  (the  Dunbar),  the  Federals  had  no  boats  on  the  river.  General  W.  F.  Smith, 
Chief  Engineer  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  had  established  a  saw-mill  with  an  old  engine  at  Bridgeport 
for  the  purpose  of  getting  out  lumber  from  logs  rafted  down  the  river,  with  which  to  construct  pontoons. 
Here  Captain  Arthur  Edwards,  Assistant  Quartermaster,  had  been  endeavoring  since  the  siege  began  to 
build  a  steamboat  consisting  of  a  flat-bottom  scow,  with  engine,  boiler,  and  stern-wheel  mounted  upon  it. 
On  October  24th,  after  many  difficulties  and  discouragements  had  been  overcome,  the  vessel  was  launched 
successfully  and  christened  the  Chattanooga.  On  the  29th  she  made  her  trial  trip.  That  very  night, 
Hooker,  in  the  battle  of  Wauhatchie,  definitely  established  control  of  the  new  twelve-mile  "  Cracker  Line " 
from  Kelley's  Ferry,  which  Grant  had  ordered  for  the  relief  of  the  starving  army.  The  next  day  the  little 
Chattanooga,  with  steam  up,  was  ready  to  start  from  Bridgeport  with  a  heavy  load  of  the  much-needed 
supplies,  and  her  arrival  was  anxiously  awaited  at  Kelley's  Ferry,  where  the  wagon-trains  were  all  ready  to 
rush  forward  the  rations  and  forage  to  Chattanooga.  The  mechanics  were  still  at  work  upon  the  little  vessel's 
unfinished  pilot-house  and  boiler-deck  while  she  and  the  two  barges  she  was  to  tow  were  being  loaded,  and 
at  4  A.M.  on  November  30th  she  set  out  to  make  the  45-mile  journey  against  unfavorable  head-winds. 


person  on  November  15th,  while  Burnside's  forces  at  Knox- 
ville  offered  protection  to  the  Jeft  flank  of  the  Federal  army. 
The  disposition  of  the  Confederate  troops  at  this  time 
was  a  formidable  one;  the  left  flank  rested  on  the  northern 
end  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  the  line  extended  a  distance 
of  twelve  miles  across  Chattanooga  Valley  to  Missionary 
Ridge.  This  position  was  further  strengthened  by  entrench 
ments  throughout,  the  lowlands.  Despite  the  danger  which 
threatened  his  army  from  the  converging  Union  forces,  Gen 
eral  Bragg  determined  to  attack  Burnside  and  despatched 
Longstreet  with  twenty  thousand  of  his  best  troops  to  Knox- 
ville.  His  army  materially  weakened,  the  Confederate  gen 
eral  continued  to  hold  the  same  extended  position,  although  his 
combined  force  was  smaller  than  had  opposed  Rosecrans  alone 
at  Chickamauga. 

On  the  23d  of  November,  after  a  long  and  fatiguing 
march  over  roads  almost  impassable  by  reason  of  continuous 
rains,  Sherman  crossed  the  Tennessee  by  the  pontoon  bridge 
at  Brown's  Ferry,  recrossed  it  above  Chattanooga,  and  was 
assigned  a  position  to  the  left  of  the  main  army  near  the  mouth 
of  Chickamauga  Creek.  Grant  had  now  some  eighty  thousand 
men,  of  whom  sixty  thousand  were  on  the  scene  of  the  coming 
battle,  and,  though  fearful  lest  Burnside  should  be  dislodged 
from  his  position  at  Knoxville,  he  would  not  be  diverted  from 
his  purpose  of  sweeping  the  Confederates  from  the  front  of 
Chattanooga.  It  had  been  Grant's  plan  to  attack  on  the  24th, 
but  information  reached  him  that  Bragg  was  preparing  a  re 
treat.  He,  therefore,  on  the  23d,  ordered  Thomas  to  advance 
upon  Bragg's  center. 

Preparations  for  the  movement  were  made  in  full  view 
of  the  Confederates ;  from  the  appearance  of  the  troops,  clad 
in  their  best  uniforms,  the  advance  line  of  the  Southern  army 
was  content  to  watch  this  display,  in  the  belief  that  the  ma 
neuvering  army  was  parading  in  review.  Suddenly,  the  peace 
ful  pageant  turned  into  a  furious  charge,  before  which  the 


m'/i. 


EVIEW  OF  REVIEWS    CO. 


THE  WELCOME  NEWCOMER 


The  home-made  little  steamboat  Chattanooga  was  beset  with  difficulties  and  dangers  on  her  memorable 
voyage  of  November  30th.  She  made  but  slow  progress  against  the  wind  and  the  rapid  current  of  the  tor 
tuous  Tennessee.  Fearful  of  breaking  a  steam  pipe  or  starting  a  leak,  she  crawled  along  all  day,  and  then 
was  enveloped  in  one  of  the  darkest  of  nights,  out  of  which  a  blinding  rain  stung  the  faces  of  her  anxious  crew. 
Assistant  Quartermaster  William  G.  Le  Due,  in  command  of  the  expedition,  helped  the  pilot  to  feel  his  way 
through  the  darkness.  At  last  the  camp-fires  of  the  Federals  became  guiding  beacons  from  the  shore  and 
soon  the  Chattanooga  tied  up  safely  at  Kelley's  Ferry.  The  "Cracker  Line "  was  at  last  opened — in  the 
nick  of  time,  for  there  were  but  four  boxes  of  hard  bread  left  in  the  commissary  at  Chattanooga,  where  four 
cakes  of  hard  bread  and  one-quarter  of  a  pound  of  pork  were  being  issued  as  a  three-days'  ration. 


itountatn 


Nov. 
1863 


Confederate  pickets,  taken  by  surprise,  retreated  from  the  first 
line  of  earthworks,  and  Thomas,  with  little  loss  to  either  side, 
captured  Orchard  Knob,  between  Chattanooga  and  Missionary 
Ridge.  From  this  point,  which  was  almost  a  mile  in  advance 
of  the  position  occupied  during  the  morning,  Grant  directed 
the  movements  of  his  army  on  the  following  day. 

The  Federal  position  was  of  less  extent  than  that  occupied 
by  the  Confederates.  Sherman  was  in  command  of  the  left 
wing,  while  Thomas  held  the  center,  and  "  Fighting  Joe  " 
Hooker,  with  the  Union  right  in  Lookout  Valley,  threatened 
Lookout  Mountain.  [The  plan  of  battle  was  for  Sherman  to 
;engage  the  Confederate  right  and  sever  communications  be- 
ftween  Bragg  and  Longstreet;  Hooker  was  to  carry  out  an 
:  assault  on  the  Southern  left  flank,  and  at  the  same  time  main 
tain  connection  with  Bridgeport.  With  both  wings  assailed 
by  a  superior  force,  it  was  believed  that  Bragg  must  reenforce 
these  positions  and  permit  Thomas,  with  overwhelming  num 
bers,  to  concentrate  upon  the  center. 

On  the  24th,  two  distinct  movements  were  in  progress. 
Sherman  met  with  but  little  opposition  in  his  initial  attack 
upon  the  Confederate  right  and  promptly  seized  and  occupied 
the  north  end  of  Missionary  Ridge.  The  Confederates,  late  in 
the  afternoon,  fought  desperately  to  regain  the  hill  but  were 
i  finally  repulsed,  and  Sherman  fortified  the  position  he  had 

•  gained.     In  the  mean  time,  Hooker,  early  in  the  day,  had  be 
gun  his  operations  against  Lookout  Mountain.     Standing  like 
ja  lone  sentinel  above  the  surrounding  valleys,  its  steep,  rocky, 
and  deeply  furrowed  slopes,  rising  into  a  high,  palisaded  crest, 
frowned  defiance  upon  the  advancing  troops,   while  a  well- 

*  constructed  line  of  defenses  completed  the  imposing  barrier. 

Hooker  had  in  addition  to  his  own  troops  a  division 
of  Sherman's  army  (Osterhaus5)  which,  owing  to  damage  to 
the  pontoon  bridge  at  Brown's  Ferry,  had  been  prevented  from 
joining  its  own  leader.  As  ordered  by  Hooker,  General  Geary 
took  his  division  up  the  valley  to  Wauhatchie,  crossed  the  creek 


WHERE  AN  ARMY  GAVE   ITS  OWN  ORDERS 

At  Missionary  Ridge  (seen  in  the  distance  in  the  lower  picture)  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  removed  forever  from  Grant's  mind  any 
doubt  of  its  fighting  qualities.  Grant,  anxious  to  develop  Bragg's  strength,  ordered  Thomas,  on  November  23d,  to  demonstrate  against 
the  forces  on  his  front.  Moving  out  as  if  on  parade,  the  troops  under  Gordon  Granger  drove  back  the  Confederates  and  captured 
Orchard  Knob  (or  Indian  Hill)  a  day  before  it  had  been  planned  to  do  so.  Still  another  surprise  awaited  Grant  on  the  25th,  when  from 
this  eminence  he  watched  the  magnificent  spectacle  of  the  battle  of  Chattanooga.  Thomas'  men  again  pressed  forward  in  what  was 
ordered  as  a  demonstration  against  Missionary  Ridge.  Up  and  over  it  they  drove  the  Confederates  from  one  entrenchment  after  another, 
capturing  the  guns  parked  in  the  lower  picture.  "  By  whose  orders  are  those  troops  going  up.the  hill?  "  " Old  Pap "  Thomas,  who  knew 
his  men  better  than  did  Grant,  replied  that  it  was  probably  by  their  own  orders.  It  was  the  most  signal  victory  of  the  day. 


EVIEW  OF   REVIEW$  CO. 


THE  CAPTURED  CONFEDERATE  GUNS 


ilmmfatn  attb 


Nov. 
1863 


and  marched  down  the  east  bank,  sweeping  the  Confederate 
outposts  before  him.  The  remainder  of  the  command  got 
across  by  bridges  lower  down.  Gaining  the  slopes  of  the 
mountain  the  Federal  troops  rushed  on  in  their  advance.  From 
the  high  palisaded  summit,  invisible  in  the  low-hanging  clouds, 
the  guns  of  General  Stevenson's  brigades  poured  an  iron 
deluge  upon  them.  But  on  they  went,  climbing  over  ledges 
and  boulders,  up  hill  and  down,  while  the  soldiers  of  the  South 
with  musket  and  cannon  tried  in  vain  to  check  them.  Position 
after  position  was  abandoned  to  the  onrushing  Federals,  and 
by  noon  Geary's  advanced  troops  had  rounded  the  north  slope 
of  the  mountain  and  passed  from  the  sight  of  General  Hooker, 
who  was  watching  the  contest  from  a  vantage  point  to  the  west. 
Grant  and  Thomas  from  the  headquarters  on  Orchard  Knob 
\vere  likewise  eager  witnesses  of  the  struggle,  although  the  haze 
was  so  dense  that  they  caught  a  glimpse  only  now  and  then  as 
the  clouds  would  rise. 

Reenforcements  came  to  the  Confederates  and  they  availed 
nothing.  Geary's  troops  had  been  ordered  to  halt  when  they 
reached  the  foot  of  the  palisades,  but  fired  by  success  they 
pressed  impetuously  forward.  From  its  higher  position  at 
the  base  of  the  cliff  Cobham's  brigade  showered  volley  after 
volley  upon  the  Confederate  main  line  of  defense,  while  that 
of  Ireland  gradually  rolled  up  the  flank.  The  Federal  bat 
teries  on  Moccasin  Point  across  the  river  were  doing  what  they 
could  to  clear  the  mountain.  The  Southerners  made  a  last 
stand  in  their  walls  and  pits  around  the  Craven  house,  but  were 
finally  driven  in  force  over  rocks  and  precipices  into  Chat 
tanooga  Valley. 

Such  was  the  "  battle  in  the  clouds,"  a  wonderful  spec 
tacle  denied  the  remainder  of  Hooker's  troops  holding  Look 
out  Valley.  That  general  says,  "  From  the  moment  we  had 
rounded  the  peak  of  the  mountain  it  was  only  from  the  roar 
of  battle  and  the  occasional  glimpses  our  comrades  in  the  valley 
could  catch  of  our  lines  and  standards  that  they  knew  of  the 


THE  MEN  WHO  COMPLETED  THE  VICTORY 

General  Hooker  and  Staff  at  Lookout  Mountain.  Hooker's  forces  of  about  9,700  men  had  been  sent  from  the  East  to  reenforce  Rose- 
crans,  but  until  the  arrival  of  Grant  they  were  simply  so  many  more  mouths  to  feed  in  the  besieged  city.  In  the  battle  of  Wauhatchie, 
on  the  night  of  October  20th,  they  drove  back  the  Confederates  and  established  the  new  line  of  communication.  On  November  24th 
they,  too,  had  a  surprise  in  store  for  Grant.  Their  part  in  the  triple  conflict  was  also  ordered  merely  as  a  "demonstration,"  but  they 
astounded  the  eyes  and  ears  of  their  comrades  with  the  spectacular  fight  by  which  they  made  their  way  up  Lookout  Mountain.  The 
next  day,  pushing  on  to  Rossville,  the  daring  Hooker  attacked  one  of  Bragg's  divisions  and  forced  it  into  precipitate  retreat. 


REVIEWS  CO. 


HOOKER'S  CAMP  AT  THE  BASE  OF  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN 


strife  or  its  progress,  and  when  from  these  evidences  our  true 
condition  was  revealed  to  them  their  painful  anxiety  yielded 
to  transports  of  joy  which  only  soldiers  can  feel  in  the  earliest 
moments  of  dawning  victory." 

By  two  in  the  afternoon  the  clouds  had  settled  completely 
into  the  valley  and  the  ensuing  darkness  put  an  end  to  further 
operations.  Hooker  established  and  strengthened  a  new  posi 
tion  and  waited  for  reenforcements,  which  General  Carlin 
brought  from  Chattanooga  at  five  o'clock.  Until  after  mid 
night  an  irregular  fire  was  kept  up,  but  the  Confederates  could 
not  break  the  new  line.  Before  dawn  General  Stevenson  aban 
doned  the  summit,  leaving  behind  twenty  thousand  rations  and 
the  camp  equipage  of  his  three  brigades.  Hooker,  anticipating 
this  move,  sent  several  detachments  to  scale  the  palisades.  A 
party  of  six  men  from  the  Eighth  Kentucky  regiment,  by 
means  of  ladders,  was  the  first  to  reach  the  summit,  and  the 
waving  Stars  and  Stripes  greeted  the  rising  sun  of  November 
25th  on  Lookout  Mountain,  amid  the  wild  and  prolonged 
cheers  of  "  Fighting  Joe's  "  valiant  troops. 

The  fighting  of  Sherman  and  Hooker  on  the  24th  se 
cured  to  Grant's  army  a  distinct  advantage  in  position.  From 
the  north  end  of  Lookout  Mountain  across  Chattanooga  Val 
ley  to  the  north  end  of  Missionary  Ridge  the  Union  forces 
maintained  an  unbroken  front. 

The  morning  of  the  25th  dawned  cold,  and  an  impene 
trable  mist  which  lay  deep  in  the  valleys  \vas  soon  driven  away. 
From  Orchard  Knob,  a  point  almost  in  the  center  of  the  united 
Federal  host,  General  Grant  watched  the  preparations  for  the 
battle.  At  sunrise,  Sherman's  command  was  in  motion.  In 
his  front,  an  open  space  intervened  between  his  position  and 
a  ridge  held  by  the  Confederates,  while  just  beyond  rose  a 
much  higher  hill.  Toward  the  first  ridge  the  attacking  column, 
under  General  Corse,  advanced  rapidly  and  in  full  view  of  the 
foe.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  Confederates  must  recede 
before  the  terrific  onslaught,  but  the  advance  was  abruptly 


Nov. 
1863 


--— « <\ 


THE  BATTLE-FIELD  ABOVE  THE   CLOUDS 


Entrenchments  on  Lookout  Mountain.  Up  such  rugged  heights  as  these,  heavily  timbered  and  full  of 
chasms,  Hooker's  men  fought  their  way  on  the  afternoon  of  November  24th.  Bridging  Lookout  Creek,  the 
troops  crossed,  hidden  by  the  friendly  mist,  and  began  ascending  the  mountain-sides,  driving  the  Confederates 
from  one  line  of  rifle-pits  and  then  from  another.  The  heavy  musketry  fire  and  the  boom  of  the  Confederate 
battery  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  apprised  the  waiting  Federals  before  Chattanooga  that  the  battle  had 
begun.  Now  and  again  the  fitful  lifting  of  the  mist  disclosed  to  Grant  and  Thomas,  watching  from  Orchard 
Knob,  the  men  of  Hooker  fighting  upon  the  heights.  Then  all  would  be  curtained  once  more.  At  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  the  mist  became  so  heavy  that  Hooker  and  his  men  could  not  see  what  they  were  doing, 
and  paused  to  entrench.  By  four  o'clock,  however,  he  had  pushed  on  to  the  summit  and  reported  to  Grant 
that  his  position  was  impregnable.  Direct  communication  was  then  established  and  reinforcements  sent. 


mrktfut  4K0Mttam  attin 


Nov. 
1868 


/  /A 


checked  after  a  very  close  and  stubborn  struggle,  when  within 
a  short  distance  of  the  entrenchment. 

Unmindful  of  the  numbers  which  opposed  him,  General 
Hardee  not  only  succeeded  in  repulsing  the  attack,  but,  as 
suming  the  offensive,  drove  back  the  forces  under  General 
John  E.  Smith,  who  had  sought  to  turn  his  left,  and  captured 
several  hundred  prisoners.  The  Federals,  quickly  re-forming  illfljj^/ I, 
their  lines,  renewed  the  assault  and  for  several  hours  the  fight 
ing  was  desperate  on  both  sides.  A  general  advance  of  the 
Northern  forces  had  been  withheld,  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
Hooker  who,  under  orders  from  Grant,  was  sweeping  down 
Chickamauga  Valley,  and  was  to  operate  against  the  Confed 
erate  left  and  rear,  in  the  expectation  that  Bragg  would  further 
weaken  his  line  by  massing  at  those  points.  But  Hooker's 
army  had  been  delayed  several  hours  by  repairs  to  the  bridge 
crossing  Chattanooga  Creek.  Although  Sherman  had  failed 
in  his  attempt  to  turn  the  Confederate  right  he  had  forced 
Bragg  to  draw  heavily  upon  his  center  for  reenforcements. 
Grant,  satisfied  that  Hooker  was  not  far  off,  ordered  the 
signal — six  guns  fired  in  rapid  succession  from  the  battery  on 
Orchard  Knob — for  a  general  advance  of  Thomas'  army  upon 
the  Confederate  center. 

It  was  now  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  four  divi 
sion  commanders  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Sheridan, 
Wood,  Baird,  and  Johnson,  gave  the  word  to  advance.  Be 
tween  Orchard  Knob  and  the  base  of  Missionary  Ridge,  a  mile 
away,  is  a  broad  valley  covered  for  the  most  part  with  heavy 
timber.  This  had  to  be  crossed  before  the  entrenchments  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill  could  be  assaulted.  Scarcely  were  the  Cum 
berland  troops  in  motion  when  fifty  pieces  of  artillery  on  the 
crest  of  Missionary  Ridge  opened  a  terrific  fire  upon  them. 
But  the  onward  rush  of  the  Federals  was  not  checked  in  the 
slightest  degree.  '  The  line  of  entrenchments  at  the  base  was 
carried  with  little  opposition.  Most  of  Breckinridge's  men 
abandoned  the  ditches  as  the  Federal  skirmishers  approached 


EVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO 


THE  PEAK  OF  VICTORY— THE  MORNING  AFTER  THE  BATTLE 


Pulpit  Rock,  the  Summit  of  Lookout  Mountain.  Before  dawn  of  November  25th,  Hooker,  anticipating  the  with 
drawal  of  the  Confederates,  sent  detachments  to  seize  the  very  summit  of  the  mountain,  here  2,400  feet  high. 
Six  volunteers  from  the  Eighth  Kentucky  Regiment  scaled  the  palisades  by  means  of  the  ladders  seen  in  this 
picture,  and  made  their  way  to  the  top.  The  rest  of  the  regiment  quickly  followed;  then  came  the  Ninety-sixth 
Illinois.  The  rays  of  the  rising  sun  disclosed  the  Stars  and  Stripes  floating  in  triumph  from  the  lofty  peak 
"amid  the  wild  and  prolonged  cheers  of  the  men  whose  dauntless  valor  had  borne  them  to  that  point." 


mkflut  itnmttatn  ani* 


Nov. 
1863 


^>IC 


and  sought  refuge  up  the  hill,  breaking  and  throwing  into  con 
fusion  other  troops  as  they  passed  through. 

At  the  foot  of  Missionary  Ridge  Thomas'  army  had 
reached  its  goal.  Its  orders  carried  it  no  further.  But,  as 
General  Wood  has  related,  "  the  enthusiasm  and  impetuosity 
of  the  troops  were  such  that  those  who  first  reached  the  en 
trenchments  at  the  base  of  the  ridge  bounded  over  them  and 
pressed  on  up  the  ascent.  .  .  .  Moreover  the  entrenchments 
were  no  protection  against  the  artillery  on  the  ridge.  To  re 
main  would  be  destruction — to  return  would  be  both  expensive 
in  life,  and  disgraceful.  Officers  and  men,  all  seemed  im 
pressed  with  this  truth.  .  .  .  Without  waiting  for  an  order 
the  vast  mass  pressed  forward  in  the  race  for  glory,  each  man 
anxious  to  be  the  first  on  the  summit.  .  .  .  Artillery  and  mus 
ketry  could  not  check  the  impetuous  assault.  The  troops  did 
not  halt  to  fire.  To  have  done  so  would  have  been  ruinous. 
Little  was  left  to  the  commanders  of  the  troops  than. to  cheer 
on  the  foremost — to  encourage  the  weaker  of  limb  and  to  sus 
tain  the  very  few  who  seemed  to  be  faint-hearted." 

Midway  up  the  slope  was  a  small  line  of  rifle-pits,  but 
these  proved  of  no  use  in  stemming  the  Federal  tide.  In  the 
immediate  front,  however,  Major  Weaver  of  the  Sixtieth 
North  Carolina  rallied  a  sufficient  number  of  the  demoralized 
Confederates  to  send  a  well-directed  and  effective  fire  upon  the 
advancing  troops.  At  this  point  the  first  line  of  oncoming 
Federals  was  vigorously  repulsed,  and  thrown  back  to  the 
vacated  Confederate  trenches.  General  Bragg,  noticing  this, 
rode  along  the  ridge  to  spread  his  good  news  among  the  troops, 
but  he  had  not  gone  far  when  word  was  brought  that  the  right 
flank  was  broken  and  that  the  Federal  standard  had  been  seen 
on  the  summit.  A  second  and  a  third  flag  appeared  in  quick 
succession.  Bragg  sent  General  Bate  to  drive  the  foe  back,  but 
the  disaster  was  so  great  that  the  latter  wras  unable  to  repair 
it.  Even  the  artillery  had  abandoned  the  infantry.  The  Con 
federate  flank  had  gone,  and  within  an  hour  of  the  start  from 


I 


THE  FLANKING  PASS 


The  Gap  in  Missionary  Ridge  at  Rossville.  Through  this  Georgia  mountain-pass  runs  the  road  to  Ringgold.  Rosecrans  took  advantage 
of  it  when  he  turned  Bragg's  flank  before  the  battle  of  Chickamauga;  and  on  November  25,  1863,  Thomas  ordered  Hooker  to  advance 
from  Lookout  Mountain  to  this  point  and  strike  the  Confederates  on  their  left  flank,  while  in  their  front  he  (Thomas)  stood  ready 
to  attack.  The  movement  was  entirely  successful,  and  in  a  brilliant  battle,  begun  by  Hooker,  Bragg's  army  was  swept  from  Missionary 
Ridge  and  pursued  in  retreat  to  Georgia. 


THE   SKIRMISH   LINE 

Multiply  the  number  of  these  men  by  ten,  strike  out  the  tents,  and  we  see  vividly  how  the  advancing  line  of  Thomas'  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  appeared  to  the  Confederates  as  they  swept  up  the  slope  at  Missionary  Ridge  to  win  the  brilliant  victory  of  November 
25th.  This  view  of  drilling  Federal  troops  in  Chattanooga  preserves  the  exact  appearance  of  the  line  of  battle  only  a  couple  of  months 
before  the  picture  was  taken.  The  skirmishers,  thrown  out  in  advance  of  the  line,  are  "firing"  from  such  positions  as  the  character  of 
the  ground  makes  most  effective.  The  main  line  is  waiting  for  the  order  to  charge. 


0nk0ut  Hiwntatn  mti*  iJfemmmnj  Htfcg? 


Nov. 
1863 


Orchard  Knob  the  crest  of  Missionary  Ridge  was  occupied  by 
Federal  troops.  Sheridan  did  not  stop  here.  He  went  down 
the  eastern  slope,  driving  all  in  front  of  him  toward  Chicka- 
mauga  Creek.  On  a  more  easterly  ridge  he  rested  until  mid 
night,  when  he  advanced  to  the  creek  and  took  many  prisoners 
and  stores. 

While  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  accomplished  these 
things,  Hooker  was  advancing  his  divisions  at  charging  pace 
from  the  south.  Cruft  was  on  the  crest,  Osterhaus  in  the 
eastern  valley,  and  Geary  in  the  western — all  within  easy  sup 
porting  distance.  Before  Cruft's  onrush  the  left  wing  of 
Bragg's  army  was  scattered  in  all  directions  from  the  ridge. 
Many  ran  down  the  eastern  slope  into  Osterhaus'  column  and 
the  very  few  who  chose  a  way  of  flight  to  the  west,  were  cap 
tured  by  Geary.  The  bulk  of  them,  however,  fell  back  from 
trench  to  trench  upon  the  crest  until  finally,  as  the  sun  was 
sinking,  they  found  themselves  surrounded  by  Johnson's  divi 
sion  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  Such  was  the  fate  of 
Stewart's  division ;  only  a  small  portion  of  it  got  away. 

On  the  Confederate  right  Hardee  held  his  own  against 
Sherman,  but  with  the  left  and  center  routed  and  in  rapid 
flight  Bragg  realized  the  day  was  lost.  He  could  do  nothing 
but  cover  Breckinridge's  retreat  as  best  he  might  and  order 
Hardee  to  retire  across  Chickamauga  Creek. 

Thus  ended  the  battle  of  Chattanooga.  Bragg's  army 
had  been  wholly  defeated,  and,  after  being  pursued  for  some 
days,  it  found  a  resting  place  at  Dalton  among  the  mountains 
of  Georgia.  The  Federal  victory  was  the  result  of  a  cam 
paign  carefully  planned  by  Generals  Halleck  and  Grant  and 
ably  carried  out  by  the  efforts  of  the  subordinate  generals. 

The  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  sustained  by  Grant 
were  over  fifty-eight  hundred  and  those  of  Bragg  about  sixty- 
six  hundred,  four  thousand  being  prisoners.  But  the  advan 
tage  of  the  great  position  had  been  forever  wrested  from  the 
Southern  army. 

[Part  X] 


/ 


THE  BATTLE  IN  THE  WILDERNESS 


The  volunteers  who  composed  the  armies  of  the  Potomac  and  North 
ern  Virginia  were  real  soldiers  now,  inured  to  war,  and  desperate  in  their 
determination  to  do  its  work  without  faltering  or  failure.  This  fact  — 
this  change  in  the  temper  and  morale  of  the  men  on  either  side  —  had 
greatly  simplified  the  tasks  set  for  Grant  and  Lee  to  solve.  They  knew 
their  men.  They  knew  that  those  men  would  stand  against  anything, 
endure  slaughter  without  flinching,  hardship  without  complaining,  and 
make  desperate  endeavor  without  shrinking.  The  two  armies  had  become 
what  they  had  not  been  earlier  in  the  contest,  perfect  instruments  of  war, 
that  could  be  relied  upon  as  confidently  as  the  machinist  relies  upon  his 
engine  scheduled  to  make  so  many  revolutions  per  minute  at  a  given  rate 
of  horse-power,  and  with  the  precision  of  science  itself.  —  George  Gary 
Eggleston,  in  "  The  History  of  the  Confederate  War" 

AFTER  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  Lee  started  for  the 
Potomac,  which  he  crossed  with  some  difficulty,  but 
with  little  interruption  from  the  Federals,  above  Harper's 
Ferry,  on  July  14,  1863.  The  thwarted  invader  of  Pennsyl 
vania  wished  to  get  to  the  plains  of  Virginia  as  quickly  as 
possible,  but  the  Shenandoah  was  found  to  be  impassable. 
Meade,  in  the  mean  time,  had  crossed  the  Potomac  east  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  and  seized  the  principal  outlets  from  the  lower 
part  of  the  Valley.  Lee,  therefore,  was  compelled  to  continue 
his  retreat  up  the  Shenandoah  until  Longstreet,  sent  in  ad 
vance  with  part  of  his  command,  had  so  blocked  the  Federal 
pursuit  that  most  of  the  Confederate  army  was  able  to  emerge 
through  Chester  Gap  and  move  to  Culpeper  Court  House. 
Ewell  marched  through  Thornton's  Gap  and  by  the  4th  of 
August  practically  the  whole  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  was 
south  of  the  Rapidan,  prepared  to  dispute  the  crossing  of  that 
river.  But  Meade,  continuing  his  flank  pursuit,  halted  at 


-/ 


LEE'S   MEN 


The  faces  of  the  veterans  in  this  photograph  of  1864  reflect  more  forcibly  than  volumes  of  historical  es 
says,  the  privations  and  the  courage  of  the  ragged  veterans  in  gray  who  faced  Grant,  with  Lee  as  their 
leader.  They  did  not  know  that  their  struggle  had  already  become  unavailing;  that  no  amount  of  per 
severance  and  devotion  could  make  headway  against  the  resources,  determination,  and  discipline  of  the 
Northern  armies,  now  that  they  had  become  concentrated  and  wielded  by  a  master  of  men  like  Grant. 
But  Grant  was  as  yet  little  more  than  a  name  to  the  armies  of  the  East.  His  successes  had  been 
won  on  Western  fields — Donelson,  Vicksburg,  Chattanooga.  It  was  not  yet  known  that  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  under  the  new  general-in-chief  was  to  prove  irresistible.  So  these  faces  reflect  perfect  confidence. 


CONFEDERATE  SOLDIERS   IN  VIRGINIA,   1864 


Though  prisoners  when  this  picture  was  taken — a  remnant  of  Grant's  heavy  captures  during  May  and 
June,  when  he  sent  some  ten  thousand  Confederates  to  Coxey's  Landing,  Virginia,  as  a  result  of  his  first 
stroke  against  Lee — though  their  arms  have  been  taken  from  them,  though  their  uniforms  are  anything  but 
"uniform,"  their  hats  partly  the  regulation  felt  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  partly  captured  Federal 
caps,  and  partly  nondescript — yet  these  ragged  veterans  stand  and  sit  with  the  dignity  of  accomplish 
ment.  To  them,  "Marse  Robert"  is  still  the  general  unconquerable,  under  whom  inferior  numbers  again 
and  again  have  held  their  own,  and  more;  the  brilliant  leader  under  whom  every  man  gladly  rushes  to  any 
assault,  however  impossible  it  seems,  knowing  that  every  order  will  be  made  to  count. 


laitl?  in 


•*• 


Culpeper  Court  House,  deeming  it  imprudent  to  attempt  the 
Rapidan  in  the  face  of  the  strongly  entrenched  Confederates. 
In  the  entire  movement  there  had  been  no  fighting  except  a 
few  cavalry  skirmishes  and  no  serious  loss  on  either  side. 

On  the  9th  of  September,  Lee  sent  Longstreet  and  his 
corps  to  assist  Bragg  in  the  great  conflict  that  was  seen  to  be 
inevitable  around  Chattanooga.  In  spite  of  reduced  strength, 
Lee  proceeded  to  assume  a  threatening  attitude  toward  Meade, 
and  in  October  and  early  November  there  were  several  small 
but  severe  engagements  as  the  Confederate  leader  attempted 
to  turn  Meade's  flank  and  force  him  back  to  the  old  line  of 
Bull  Run.  On  the  7th  of  November,  Sedgwick  made  a  bril 
liant  capture  of  the  redoubts  on  the  Rappahannock,  and  Lee 
returned  once  more  to  his  old  position  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Rapidan.  This  lay  between  Barnett's  Ford,  near  Orange 
Court  House  (Lee's  headquarters) ,  and  Morton's  Ford,  twenty 
miles  below.  Its  right  was  also  protected  by  entrenchments 
along  the  course  of  Mine  Run.  Against  these,  in  the  last  days 
of  November,  Meade  sent  French,  Sedgwick,  and  Warren. 
It  was  found  impossible  to  carry  the  Confederate  position, 
and  on  December  1st  the  Federal  troops  were  ordered  to  re- 
cross  the  Rapidan.  In  this  short  campaign  the  Union  lost 
sixteen  hundred  men  and  the  Confederacy  half  that  number. 
With  the  exception  of  an  unsuccessful  cavalry  raid  against 
Richmond,  in  February,  nothing  disturbed  the  existence  of  the 
two  armies  until  the  coming  of  Grant. 

In  the  early  months  of  1864,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
lay  between  the  Rapidan  and  the  Rappahannock,  most  of  it 
in  the  vicinity  of  Culpeper  Court  House,  although  some  of 
the  troops  were  guarding  the  railroad  to  Washington  as  far 
as  Bristoe  Station,  close  to  Manassas  Junction.  On  the  south 
side  of  the  Rapidan,  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  was,  as 
has  been  seen,  securely  entrenched.  The  Confederates'  ranks 
were  thin  and  their  supplies  were  scarce;  but  the  valiant  spirit 
which  had  characterized  the  Southern  hosts  in  former  battles 


EVIEW   OF    REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  STRANGER  GRANT 


Hither,  to  Meade's  headquarters  at  Brandy  Station,  came  Grant  on  March  10,  1864.  The  day  before,  in 
Washington,  President  Lincoln  handed  him  his  commission,  appointing  him  Lieutenant-General  in  command 
of  all  the  Federal  forces.  His  visit  to  Washington  convinced  him  of  the  wisdom  of  remaining  in  the  East  to 
direct  affairs,  and  his  first  interview  with  Meade  decided  him  to  retain  that  efficient  general  in  command  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  two  men  had  known  each  other  but  slightly  from  casual  meetings  during  the 
Mexican  War.  "I  was  a  stranger  to  most  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,"  said  Grant,  "but  Meade's  modesty 
and  willingness  to  serve  in  any  capacity  impressed  me  even  more  than  had  his  victory  at  Gettysburg."  The 
only  prominent  officers  Grant  brought  on  from  the  West  were  Sheridan  and.  Rawlins. 


f 


n 


still  burned  fiercely  within  their  breasts,  presaging  many  des 
perate  battles  before  the  heel  of  the  invader  should  tread  upon 
their  cherished  capital,  Richmond,  and  their  loved  cause,  the 
Confederacy. 

Within  the  camp  religious  services  had  been  held  for 
weeks  in  succession,  resulting  in  the  conversion  of  large  num 
bers  of  the  soldiers.  General  Lee  was  a  religious  man.  The 
influence  of  the  awakening  among  the  men  in  the  army  dur 
ing  this  revival  was  manifest  after  the  war  was  over,  when  the 
soldiers  had  gone  back  to  civil  life,  under  conditions  most 
trying  and  severe.  To  this  spiritual  frame  of  mind  may  be 
credited,  perhaps,  some  of  the  remarkable  feats  accomplished 
in  subsequent  battles  by  the  Confederate  army. 

On  February  29,  1864,  the  United  States  Congress  passed 
?„  law  reviving  the  grade  of  lieutenant-general,  the  title  being 
intended  for  Grant,  who  was  made  general-in-chief  of  the 
armies  of  the  United  States.  Grant  had  come  from  his  vic 
torious  battle-grounds  in  the  West,  and  all  eyes  turned  to  him 
as  the  chieftain  who  should  lead  the  Union  army  to  success. 
On  the  9th  of  March  he  received  his  commission.  He  now 
planned  the  final  great  double  movement  of  the  war.  Taking 
control  of  the  whole  campaign  against  Lee,  but  leaving  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  under  Meade's  direct  command,  he  chose 
the  strongest  of  his  corps  commanders,  W.  T.  Sherman,  for 
the  head  of  affairs  in  the  West.  Grant's  immediate  objects 
were  to  defeat  Lee's  army  and  to  capture  Richmond,  the  latter 
to  be  accomplished  by  General  Butler  and  the  Army  of  the 
James;  Sherman's  object  was  to  crush  Johnston,  to  seize  that 
important  railroad  center,  Atlanta,  Georgia,  and,  with  Banks' 
assistance,  to  open  a  way  between  the  Atlantic  coast  and 
Mobile,  on  the  Gulf,  thus  dividing  the  Confederacy  north  and 
south,  as  the  conquest  of  the  Mississippi  had  parted  it  east  and 
west.  It  was  believed  that  if  either  or  both  of  these  cam 
paigns  were  successful,  the  downfall  of  the  Confederacy  would 
be  assured. 


J 


4 


COPYRIGHT,  191 


OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


SIGNALING  ORDERS  FROM  GENERAL  MEADE'S  HEADQUARTERS,  JUST  BEFORE 

THE  WILDERNESS 

In  April,  1864,  General  Meade's  headquarters  lay  north  of  the  Rapidan.  The  Signal  Corps  was  kept  busy 
transmitting  the  orders  preliminary  to  the  Wilderness  campaign,  which  was  to  begin  May  5th.  The  head 
quarters  are  below  the  brow  of  the  hill.  A  most  important  part  of  the  Signal  Corps'  duty  was  the  inter 
ception  and  translation  of  messages  interchanged  between  the  Confederate  signal-men.  A  veteran  of 
Sheridan's  army  tells  of  his  impressions  as  follows:  "On  the  evening  of  the  18th  of  October,  1864,  the  sol 
diers  of  Sheridan's  army  lay  in  their  lines  at  Cedar  Creek.  Our  attention  was  suddenly  directed  to  the 
ridge  of  Massanutten,  or  Three  Top  Mountain,  the  slope  of  which  covered  the  left  wing  of  the  army — the 
Eighth  Corps.  A  lively  series  of  signals  wTas  being  flashed  out  from  the  peak,  and  it  was  evident  that  mes 
sages  were  being  sent  both  eastward  and  westward  of  the  ridge.  I  can  recall  now  the  feeling  with  which 
we  looked  up  at  those  flashes  going  over  our  heads,  knowing  that  they  must  be  Confederate  messages.  It 
was  only  later  that  we  learned  that  a  keen-eyed  Union  officer  had  been  able  to  read  the  message:  'To 
Lieutenant-General  Early.  Be  ready  to  move  as  soon  as  my  forces  join  you,  and  we  wrill  crush  Sheridan. 
Longstreet,  Lieutenant-General.'  The  sturdiness  of  Sheridan's  veterans  and  the  fresh  spirit  put  into  the 
hearts  of  the  men  by  the  return  of  Sheridan  himself  from  '  Winchester,  twenty  miles  away,'  a  ride  rendered 
immortal  by  Read's  poem,  proved  too  much  at  last  for  the  pluck  and  persistency  of  Early's  worn-out  troops." 


v 


On  a  recommendation  of  General  Meade's,  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  was  reorganized  into  three  corps  instead  of  the 
previous  five.  The  Second,  Fifth,  and  Sixth  corps  were  re 
tained,  absorbing  the  First  and  Third. 

Hancock  was  in  command  of  the  Second;  Warren,  the 
Fifth;  and  Sedgwick,  the  Sixth.  Sheridan  was  at  the  head  of 
the  cavalry.  The  Ninth  Corps  acted  as  a  separate  army  under 
Burnside,  and  was  now  protecting  the  Orange  and  Alexandria 
Railroad.  As  soon  as  Meade  had  crossed  the  Rapidan,  Burn- 
side  was  ordered  to  move  promptly,  and  he  reached  the  battle 
field  of  the  Wilderness  on  the  morning  of  May  6th.  On  May 
24th  his  corps  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The 
Union  forces,  including  the  Ninth  Corps,  numbered  about  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  men. 

The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  consisted  of  three  corps 
of  infantry,  the  First  under  Longstreet,  the  Second  under 
Ewell,  and  the  Third  under  A.  P.  Hill,  and  a  cavalry  corps 
commanded  by  Stuart.  A  notable  fact  in  the  organization 
of  the  Confederate  army  was  the  few  changes  made  in  com 
manders.  The  total  forces  under  Lee  were  about  sixty-two 
thousand. 

After  assuming  command,  Grant  established  his  head 
quarters  at  Culpeper  Court  House,  whence  he  visited  Wash 
ington  once  a  week  to  consult  with  President  Lincoln  and  the 
Secretary  of  War.  He  was  given  full  authority,  however,  as 
to  men  and  movements,  and  worked  out  a  plan  of  campaign 
which  resulted  in  a  series  of  battles  in  Virginia  unparalleled  in 
history.  The  first  of  these  was  precipitated  in  a  dense  forest, 
a  wilderness,  from  which  the  battle  takes  its  name. 

Grant  decided  on  a  general  advance  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  upon  Lee,  and  early  on  the  morning  of  May  4th  the 
movement  began  by  crossing  the  Rapidan  at  several  fords 
below  Lee's  entrenched  position,  and  moving  by  his  right  flank. 
The  crossing  was  effected  successfully,  the  line  of  march  tak 
ing  part  of  the  Federal  troops  over  a  scene  of  defeat  in  the 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  THE   FRONT 

The  Streets  of  Culpeper,  Virginia,  in  March,  1864.  After  Grant's  arrival,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  awoke  to 
the  activity  of  the  spring  campaign.  One  of  the  first  essentials  was  to  get  the  vast  transport  trains  in  readi 
ness  to  cross  the  Rapidan.  Wagons  were  massed  by  thousands  at  Culpeper,  near  wyhere  Meade's  troops  had 
spent  the  winter.  The  work  of  the  teamsters  was  most  arduous;  wearied  by  long  night  marches — nodding, 
reins  in  hand,  for  lack  of  sleep- — they  might  at  any  moment  be  suddenly  attacked  in  a  bold  attempt  to  capture 
or  destroy  their  precious  freight.  When  the  arrangements  were  completed,  each  wagon  bore  the  corps  badge, 
division  color,  and  number  of  the  brigade  it  was  to  serve.  Its  contents  were  also  designated,  together  with 
the  branch  of  the  service  for  which  it  was  intended.  While  loaded,  the  wagons  must  keep  pace  with  the  army 
movements  whenever  possible  in  order  to  be  parked  at  night  near  the  brigades  to  which  they  belonged. 


\\ 


V 


previous  spring.  One  year  before,  the  magnificent  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  just  from  a  long  winter's  rest  in  the  encamp 
ment  at  Falmouth  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Rappahannock, 
had  met  the  legions  of  the  South  in  deadly  combat  on  the 
battlefield  of  Chancellorsville.  And  now  Grant  was  leading 
the  same  army,  whose  ranks  had  been  freshened  by  new  recruits 
from  the  North,  through  the  same  field  of  war. 

By  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  the  various 
rumors  as  to  the  Federal  army's  crossing  the  Rapidan  received 
by  Lee  were  fully  confirmed,  and  at  once  he  prepared  to  set 
his  own  army  in  motion  for  the  Wilderness,  and  to  throw  him 
self  across  the  path  of  his  foe.  Two  days  before  he  had  gath 
ered  his  corps  and  division  commanders  around  him  at  the 
signal  station  on  Clark's  Mountain,  a  considerable  eminence 
south  of  the  Rapidan,  near  Robertson's  Ford.  Here  he  ex 
pressed  the  opinion  that  Grant  would  cross  at  the  lower  fords, 
as  he  did,  but  nevertheless  Longstreet  was  kept  at  Gordons- 
ville  in  case  the  Federals  should  move  by  the  Confederate  left. 

The  day  was  oppressively  hot,  and  the  troops  suffered 
greatly  from  thirst  as  they  plodded  along  the  forest  aisles 
through  the  jungle-like  region.  The  Wilderness  was  a  maze 
of  trees,  underbrush,  and  ragged  foliage.  Low-limbed  pines, 
scrub-oaks,  hazels,  and  chinkapins  interlaced  their  branches  on 
the  sides  of  rough  country  roads  that  lead  through  this  laby 
rinth  of  desolation.  The  weary  troops  looked  upon  the  heavy 
tangles  of  fallen  timber  and  dense  undergrowth  with  a  sense 
of  isolation.  Only  the  sounds  of  the  birds  in  the  trees,  the 
rustling  of  the  leaves,  and  the  passing  of  the  army  relieved 
the  heavy  pall  of  solitude  that  bore  upon  the  senses  of  the 
Federal  host. 

The  forces  of  the  Northern  army  advanced  into  the  vast 
no-man's  land  by  the  roads  leading  from  the  fords.  In  the 
afternoon,  Hancock  wras  resting  at  Chancellorsville,  while 
Warren  posted  his  corps  near  the  Wilderness  Tavern,  in  which 
General  Grant  established  his  headquarters.  Sedgwick's  corps 


///A 


THE  "GRAND  CAMPAIGN"  UNDER  WAY— THE  DAY  BEFORE  THE  BATTLE 


Pontoon-Bridges  at  Germanna  Ford,  on  the  Rapidan.  Here  the  Sixth  Corps  under  Sedgwick  and  Warren's  Fifth  Corps  began  crossing 
on  the  morning  of  May  4,  1864.  The  Second  Corps,  under  Hancock,  crossed  at  Ely's  Ford,  farther  to  the  east.  The  cavalry,  under 
Sheridan,  was  in  advance.  By  night  the  army,  with  the  exception  of  Burnside's  Ninth  Corps,  was  south  of  the  Rapidan,  advancing  into 
the  Wilderness.  The  Ninth  Corps  (a  reserve  of  twenty  thousand  men)  remained  temporarily  north  of  the  Rappahannock,  guarding 
railway  communications.  On  the  wooden  pontoon-bridge  the  rear-guard  is  crossing  while  the  pontonniers  are  taking  up  the  canvas  bridge 
beyond.  The  movement  was  magnificently  managed:  Grant  believed  it  to  be  a  complete  surprise,  as  Lee  had  offered  no  opposition. 
That  was  yet  to  come.  In  the  baffling  fighting  of  the  Wilderness  and  Spotsyl vania  ( \>urt  House,  Grunt  was  to  lose  a  third  of  his  superior 
number,  arriving  a  month  later  on  the  James  with  a  dispirited  army  that  had  left  behind  54,92(»  comrades  in  a  month. 


Haiti?  in 


had  followed  in  the  track  of  Warren's  veterans,  but  was  or 
dered  to  halt  near  the  river  crossing,  or  a  little  south  of  it. 
The  cavalry,  as  much  as  was  not  covering  the  rear  wagon 
trains,  was  stationed  near  Chancellorsville  and  the  Wilderness 
Tavern.  That  night  the  men  from  the  North  lay  in  bivouac 
with  little  fear  of  being  attacked  in  this  wilderness  of  waste, 
where  military  maneuvers  would  be  very  difficult. 

Two  roads — the  old  Orange  turnpike  and  the  Orange 
plank  road — enter  the  Wilderness  from  the  southwest.  Along 
these  the  Confederates  moved  from  their  entrenched  position 
to  oppose  the  advancing  hosts  of  the  North.  Ewell  took  the 
old  turnpike  and  Hill  the  plank  road.  Longstreet  was  hasten 
ing  from  Gordonsville.  The  troops  of  Longstreet,  on  the  one 
side,  and  of  Burnside,  on  the  other,  arrived  on  the  field  after 
exhausting  forced  marches. 

The  locality  in  which  the  Federal  army  found  itself  on  the 
5th  of  May  was  not  one  that  any  commander  would  choose 
for  a  battle-ground.  Lee  was  more  familiar  with  its  terrible 
features  than  was  his  opponent,  but  this  gave  him  little  or  no 
advantage.  Grant,  having  decided  to  move  by  the  Confederate 
right  flank,  could  only  hope  to  pass  through  the  desolate 
region  and  reach  more  open  country  before  the  inevitable  clash 
would  come.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  General  Humphreys, 
who  was  Meade's  chief  of  staff,  says  in  his  "  Virginia  Cam 
paign  of  1864  and  1865  ":  "  So  far  as  I  know,  no  great  battle 
ever  took  place  before  on  such  ground.  But  little  of  the  com 
batants  could  be  seen,  and  its  progress  was  known  to  the  senses 
chiefly  by  the  rising  and  falling  sounds  of  a  vast  musketry  fire 
that  continually  swept  along  the  lines  of  battle,  many  miles 
in  length,  sounds  which  at  times  approached  to  the  sublime." 

As  Ewell,  moving  along  the  old  turnpike  on  the  morning 
of  May  5th,  came  near  the  Germanna  Ford  road,  Warren's 
corps  was  marching  down  the  latter  on  its  way  to  Parker's 
store,  the  destination  assigned  it  by  the  orders  of  the  day. 
This  meeting  precipitated  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness. 


v  '-v  * 


&f 


OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  TANGLED  BATTLEFIELD 


The  Edge  of  the  Wilderness,  May  5,  1864.  Stretching  away  to  the  westward  between  Grant's  army  and  Lee's  lay  no-man's-land — the 
Wilderness.  Covered  with  a  second-growth  of  thicket,  thorny  underbrush,  and  twisted  vines,  it  was  an  almost  impassable  labyrinth, 
with  here  and  there  small  clearings  in  which  stood  deserted  barns  and  houses,  reached  only  by  unused  and  overgrown  farm  roads.  The 
Federal  advance  into  this  region  was  not  a  surprise  to  Lee,  as  Grant  supposed.  The  Confederate  commander  had  caused  the  region  to 
be  carefully  surveyed,  hoping  for  the  precise  opportunity  that  Grant  was  about  to  give  him.  At  the  very  outset  of  the  campaign  he 
could  strike  the  Federals  in  a  position  where  superior  numbers  counted  little.  If  he  could  drive  Grant  beyond  the  Rappahannock — as 
he  had  forced  Pope,  Burnside  and  Hooker  before  him — says  George  Gary  Eggleston  (in  the  "History  of  the  Confederate  War"),  "loud 
and  almost  irresistible  would  have  been  the  cry  for  an  armistice,  supported  (as  it  would  have  been)  by  Wall  Street  and  all  Europe." 


Batik  in  % 


•$* 


JMeade  learned  the  position  of  Swell's  advance  division 
and  ordered  an  attack.  The  Confederates  were  driven  back  a 
mile  or  two,  but,  re-forming  and  reenforced,  the  tide  of  battle 
was  turned  the  other  way.  Sedgwick's  marching  orders  were 
sending  him  to  the  Wilderness  Tavern  on  the  turnpike.  He 
was  on  his  way  when  the  battle  began,  and  he  now  turned  to 
the  right  from  the  Germanna  Ford  road  and  formed  several  of 
his  divisions  on  Warren's  right.  The  presence  of  Hill  on  the 
plank  road  became  known  to  Meade  and  Grant,  about  eight  in 
the  morning.  Hancock,  at  Chancellorsville,  was  too  far  away 
to  check  him,  so  Getty's  division  of  Sedgwick's  corps,  on  its 
way  to  the  right,  was  sent  over  the  Brock  road  to  its  junction 
with  the  plank  road  for  the  purpose  of  driving  Hill  back,  if 
possible,  beyond  Parker's  store. 

Warren  and  Sedgwick  began  to  entrench  themselves  when 
they  realized  that  Ewell  had  effectively  blocked  their  progress. 
Getty,  at  the  junction  of  the  Brock  and  the  Orange  plank 
roads,  was  likewise  throwing  up  breastworks  as  fast  as  he 
could.  Hancock,  coming  down  the  Brock  road  from  Chancel 
lorsville,  reached  him  at  two  in  the  afternoon  and  found  two 
of  A.  P.  Hill's  divisions  in  front.  After  waiting  to  finish  his 
breastworks,  Getty,  a  little  after  four  o'clock,  started,  with 
Hancock  supporting  him,  to  carry  out  his  orders  to  drive  Hill 
back.  Hancock  says:  "  The  fighting  became  very  fierce  at 
once.  The  lines  of  battle  were  exceedingly  close,  the  musketry 
continuous  and  deadly  along  the  entire  line.  .  .  .  The  battle 
raged  with  great  severity  and  obstinacy  until  about  8  P.M. 
without  decided  advantage  to  either  party."  Here,  on  the 
Federal  left,  and  in  this  desperate  engagement,  General  Alex 
ander  Hays,  one  of  Hancock's  brigade  commanders,  was  shot 
through  the  head  and  killed. 

The  afternoon  had  worn  away  with  heavy  skirmishing  on 
the  right.  About  five  o'clock  Meade  made  another  attempt  on 
Swell's  forces.  Both  lines  were  well  entrenched,  but  the  Con 
federate  artillery  enfiladed  the  Federal  positions.  It  was  after 


May 
1864 


1 


; 


WHERE  EWELL'S  CHARGE  SURPRISED  GRANT 

A  photograph  of  Confederate  breastworks  raised  by  Swell's  men  a  few 
months  before,  while  they  fought  in  the  Wilderness,  May  5,  1864.  In 
the  picture  we  see  some  of  the  customary  breastworks  which  both  con 
tending  armies  threw  up  to  strengthen  their  positions.  These  were  in  a 
field  near  the  turnpike  in  front  of  Ewell's  main  line.  The  impracticable 
nature  of  the  ground  tore  the  lines  on  both  sides  into  fragments;  as 
they  swept  back  and  forth,  squads  and  companies  strove  fiercely  with 
one  another,  hand-to-hand.  Grant  had  confidently  expressed  the  belief 
to  one  of  his  staff  officers  that  there  was  no  more  advance  left  in  Lee's 
army.  He  was  surprised  to  learn  on  the  5th  that  Ewell's  Corps  was 
marching  rapidly  down  the  Orange  turnpike  to  strike  at  Sedgwick  and 
WTarren,  while  A.  P.  Hill,  with  Longstreet  close  behind,  was  pushing  for 
ward  on  the  Orange  plank-road  against  Hancock. 


in       Wtltonwa* 


•*• 


Y, 


dark  when  General  Seymour  of  Sedgwick's  corps  finally  with 
drew  his  brigade,  with  heavy  loss  in  killed  and  wounded. 

When  the  battle  roar  had  ceased,  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
Confederate  soldiers  learned  with  sorrow  of  the  death  of  one 
of  the  most  dashing  brigade  leaders  in  Ewell's  corps,  General 
John  M.  Jones.  This  fighting  was  the  preliminary  strug 
gle  for  position  in  the  formation  of  the  battle-lines  of  the  two 
armies,  to  secure  the  final  hold  for  the  death  grapple.  The 
contestants  were  without  advantage  on  either  side  when  the 
sanguinary  day's  wrork  was  finished. 

Both  armies  had  constructed  breastworks  and  were  en 
trenched  very  close  to  each  other,  front  to  front,  gathered  and 
poised  for  a  deadly  spring.  Early  on  the  morning  of  May  6th 
Hancock  was  reenforced  by  Burnside,  and  Hill  by  Longstreet. 

Grant  issued  orders,  through  Meade,  for  a  general  attack 
by  Sedgwick,  Warren,  and  Hancock  along  the  entire  line,  at 
five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  6th.  Fifteen  minutes  before 
five  the  Confederates  opened  fire  on  Sedgwick's  right,  and 
soon  the  battle  was  raging  along  the  whole  five-mile  front. 
It  became  a  hand-to-hand  contest.  The  Federals  advanced 
with  great  difficulty.  The  combatants  came  upon  each  other 
but  a  few  paces  apart.  Soldiers  on  one  side  became  hopelessly 
mixed  with  those  of  the  other. 

Artillery  played  but  little  part  in  the  battle  of  the  Wil 
derness.  The  cavalry  of  the  two  armies  had  one  indecisive 
engagement  on  the  5th.  The  next  day  both  Custer  and  Gregg 
repulsed  Hampton  and  Fitzhugh  Lee  in  two  separate  en 
counters,  but  Sheridan  was  unable  to  follow  up  the  advantage. 
He  had  been  entrusted  with  the  care  of  the  wagon  trains  and 
dared  not  take  his  cavalry  too  far  from  them.  The  battle  was 
chiefly  one  of  musketry.  Volley  upon  volley  was  poured 
out  unceasingly;  screaming  bullets  mingled  with  terrific  yells 
in  the  dense  woods.  The  noise  became  deafening,  and  the 
wounded  and  dying  lying  on  the  ground  among  the  trees  made 
a  scene  of  indescribable  horror.  Living  men  rushed  in  to  take 


LEE  GIVES  BLOW  FOR 
BLOW 

Another  view  of  Ewell's  ad 
vanced  entrenchments  —  the 
bark  still  fresh  where  the  Con 
federates  had  worked  with  the 
logs.  In  the  Wilderness,  Lee, 
ever  bold  and  aggressive,  exe 
cuted  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
maneuvers  of  his  career.  His 
advance  was  a  sudden  surprise 
for  Grant,  and  the  manner  in 
which  he  gave  battle  was  an 
other.  Grant  harbored  the 
notion  that  his  adversary  would 
act  on  the  defensive,  and  that 
there  would  be  opportunity  to 
attack  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  only  behind  strong 
entrenchments.  But  in  the 
Wilderness,  Lee's  veterans,  the 
backbone  of  the  South's  fight 
ing  strength,  showed  again  their 
unquenchable  spirit  of  ag 
gressiveness.  They  came  forth 
to  meet  Grant's  men  on  equal 
terms  in  the  thorny  thickets. 
About  noon,  May  5th,  the  still 
ness  was  broken  by  the  rattle 
of  musketry  and  the  roar  of 
artillery,  which  told  that  War 
ren  had  met  with  resistance  on 
the  turnpike  and  that  the 
battle  had  begun.  Nearly  a 
mile  were  Ewell's  men  driven 
back,  and  then  they  came  mag 
nificently  on  again,  fighting 
furiously  in  the  smoke-filled 
thickets  with  Warren's  now 
retreating  troops.  Sedgwick, 
coming  to  the  support  of 
Warren,  renewed  the  conflict. 
To  the  southward  on  the  plank 
road,  Getty's  division,  of  the 
Sixth  Corps,  hard  pressed  by 
the  forces  of  A.  P.  Hill,  was 
succored  by  Hancock  with  the 
Second  Corps,  and  together 
these  commanders  achieved 
what  seemed  success.  It  was 
brief;  Longstreet  was  close  at 
hand  to  save  the  day  for  the 
Confederates. 


,    REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


T 


Hattfc  in 


•*•     •*•     •*•     •*• 


May 
1864 


the  places  of  those  who  had  fallen.  The  missiles  cut  branches 
from  the  trees,  and  saplings  were  mowed  down  as  grass  in  a 
meadow  is  cut  by  a  scythe.  Bloody  remnants  of  uniforms, 
blue  and  gray,  hung  as  weird  and  uncanny  decorations  from 
remaining  branches. 

The  story  of  the  Federal  right  during  the  morning  is 
easily  told.  Persistently  and  often  as  he  tried,  Warren  could 
make  no  impression  on  the  strongly  entrenched  Ewell — nor 
could  Sedgwick,  who  was  trying  equally  hard  with  Wright's 
division  of  his  corps.  But  with  Hancock  on  the  left,  in  his  en 
trenchments  on  the  Brock  road,  it  w^as  different.  The  gallant 
and  heroic  charges  here  have  elicited  praise  and  admiration 
from  friend  and  foe  alike.  At  first,  Hill  wras  forced  back  in 
disorder,  and  driven  in  confusion  a  mile  and  a  half  from  his 
line.  The  Confederates  seemed  on  the  verge  of  panic  and 
rout.  From  the  rear  of  the  troops  in  gray  came  the  beloved 
leader  of  the  Southern  host,  General  Lee.  He  was  astride  his 
favorite  battle-horse,  and  his  face  was  set  in  lines  of  determi 
nation.  Though  the  crisis  of  the  battle  for  the  Confederates 
had  arrived,  Lee's  voice  was  calm  and  soft  as  he  commanded, 
"  Follow  me,"  and  then  urged  his  charger  toward  the  bristling 
front  of  the  Federal  lines.  The  Confederate  ranks  were  elec 
trified  by  the  brave  example  of  their  commander.  A  ragged 
veteran  who  had  followed  Lee  through  many  campaigns,  leaped 
forward  and  caught  the  bridle-rein  of  the  horse.  '  We  won't 
go  on  until  you  go  back,"  cried  the  devoted  warrior.  Instantly 
the  Confederate  ranks  resounded  with  the  cry,  "  Lee  to  the 
rear!  Lee  to  the  rear!"  and  the  great  general  went  back  to 
safety  while  his  soldiers  again  took  up  the  gage  of  battle  and 
plunged  into  the  smoke  and  death-laden  storm.  But  Lee,  by 
his  personal  presence,  and  the  arrival  of  Longstreet,  had  re 
stored  order  and  courage  in  the  ranks,  and  their  original 
position  was  soon  regained. 

The  pursuit  of  the  Confederates  through  the  dense  forest 
had  caused  confusion  and  disorganization  in  Hancock's  corps. 


1 


'///// 


#//// 


& 


^ 


TREES  IX  THE  TRACK  OF 
THE  IRON  STORM 

The  Wilderness  to  the  north  of 
the  Orange  turnpike.  Over 
ground  like  this,  where  men 
had  seldom  trod  before,  ebbed 
and  flowed  the  tide  of  tramp 
ling  thousands  on  May  5  and  6, 
1864.  Artillery,  of  which  Grant 
had  a  superabundance,  was 
well-nigh  useless,  wreaking  its 
impotent  fury  upon  the  defense 
less  trees.  Even  the  efficacy  of 
musketry  fire  was  hampered. 
Men  tripping  and  falling  in  the 
tangled  underbrush  arose  bleed 
ing  from  the  briars  to  struggle 
with  an  adversary  whose  every 
movement  was  impeded  also. 
The  cold  steel  of  the  bayonet 
finished  the  work  which  rifles 
had  begun.  In  the  terrible 
turmoil  of  death  the  hopes  of 
both  Grant  and  Lee  were 
doomed  to  disappointment. 
The  result  was  a  victory  for 
neither.  Lee,  disregarding  his 
own  safety,  endeavored  to  rally 
the  disordered  ranks  of  A.  P. 
Hill,  and  could  only  be  per 
suaded  to  retire  by  the  pledge  of 
Longstreet  that  his  advancing 
force  would  win  the  coveted 
victory.  Falling  upon  Han 
cock's  flank,  the  fresh  troops 
seemed  about  to  crush  the 
Second  Corps,  as  Jackson's  men 
had  crushed  the  Eleventh  the 
previous  year  at  Chancellors- 
ville.  But  now,  as  Jackson,  at 
the  critical  moment,  had  fallen 
by  the  fire  of  his  own  men,  so 
Longstreet  and  his  staff,  gallop 
ing  along  the  plank  road,  were 
mistaken  by  their  own  soldiers 
for  Federals  and  fired  upon.  A 
minie-ball  struck  Longstreet  in 
the  shoulder,  and  he  was  carried 
from  the  field,  feebly  waving  his 
hat  that  his  men  might  know 
that  he  was  not  killed.  With 
him  departed  from  the  field  the 
life  of  the  attack. 


REVIEW  OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


That  cohesion  and  strength  in  a  battle-line  of  soldiers,  where 
the  men  can  "  feel  the  touch,"  shoulder  to  shoulder,  was  want 
ing,  and  the  usual  form  and  regular  alignment  was  broken. 
It  was  two  hours  before  the  lines  were  re-formed.  That  short 
time  had  been  well  utilized  by  the  Confederates.  Gregg's 
eight  hundred  Texans  made  a  desperate  charge  through  the 
thicket  of  the  pine  against  Webb's  brigade  of  Hancock's 
corps,  cutting  through  the  growth,  and  wildly  shouting  amid 
the  crash  and  roar  of  the  battle.  Half  of  their  number  were 
left  on  the  field,  but  the  blow  had  effectually  checked  the  Fed 
eral  advance. 

While  the  battle  was  raging  Grant's  general  demeanor 
was  imperturbable.  He  remained  with  Meade  nearly  the  whole 
day  at  headquarters  at  the  Lacy  house.  He  sat  upon  a  stump 
most  of  the  time,  or  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  leaning  against  its 
trunk,  whittling  sticks  with  his  pocket-knife  and  smoking  big 
black  cigars — twenty  during  the  day.  He  received  reports  of 
the  progress  of  the  battle  and  gave  orders  without  the  least 
evidence  of  excitement  or  emotion.  "  His  orders,"  said  one 
of  his  staff,  "  were  given  with  a  spur,"  implying  instant  action. 
On  one  occasion,  when  an  officer,  in  great  excitement,  brought 
him  the  report  of  Hancock's  misfortune  and  expressed  appre 
hension  as  to  Lee's  purpose,  Grant  exclaimed  with  some 
warmth:  "Oh,  I  am  heartily  tired  of  hearing  what  Lee  is 
going  to  do.  Go  back  to  your  command  and  try  to  think  what 
we  are  going  to  do  ourselves." 

Several  brigades  of  Longstreet's  troops,  though  weary 
from  their  forced  march,  were  sent  on  a  flanking  movement 
against  Hancock's  left,  which  demoralized  Mott's  division  and 
caused  it  to  fall  back  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  Longstreet 
now  advanced  with  the  rest  of  his  corps.  The  dashing  leader, 
while  riding  with  Generals  Kershaw  and  Jenkins  at  the  head 
of  Jenkins'  brigade  on  the  right  of  the  Southern  battle  array, 
was  screened  by  the  tangled  thickets  from  the  view  of  his  own 
troops,  flushed  with  the  success  of  brilliant  flank  movement. 


1 


>••"•  ^ 

•     f  '£ 


?£,  v  »   %\    .</.-^'* 


• 


A  LOSS  IX   "EFFECTIVE  STRENGTH"— WOUNDED    AT   FREDERICKSBURG 

Federal  wounded  in  the  Wilderness  campaign,  at  Fredericksburg.  Grant  lost  17.3  per  cent,  of  his  numbers  engaged  in  the  two  days' 
battles  of  the  Wilderness  alone.  Lee's  loss  was  18.1  per  cent.  More  than  24,000  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  of  the  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia  lay  suffering  in  those  uninhabited  thickets.  There  many  of  them  died  alone,  and  some  perished  in  the  horror  of  a  forest 
fire  on  the  night  of  May  oth.  The  Federals  lost  many  gallant  officers,  among  them  the  veteran  Wadsworth.  The  Confederates  lost 
Generals  Jenkins  and  Jones,  killed,  and  suffered  a  staggering  blow  in  the  disabling  of  Longstreet.  The  series  of  battles  of  the  Wilder 
ness  and  Spotsylvania  campaigns  were  more  costly  to  the  Federals  than  Antietam  and  Gettysburg  combined. 


Sattl?  in 


May 
1864 


Suddenly  the  passing  column  was  seen  indistinctly  through 
an  opening  and  a  volley  burst  forth  and  struck  the  officers. 
When  the  smoke  lifted  Longstreet  and  Jenkins  were  down— 
the  former  seriously  wounded,  and  the  latter  killed  outright. 
As  at  Chancellorsville  a  year  before  and  on  the  same  battle 
ground,  a  great  captain  of  the  Confederacy  was  shot  down  by 
his  own  men,  and  by  accident,  at  the  crisis  of  a  battle.  Jack 
son  lingered  several  days  after  Chancellorsville,  while  Long- 
street  recovered  and  lived  to  fight  for  the  Confederacy  till  the 
surrender  at  Appomattox.  General  Wadsworth,  of  Hancock's 
corps,  was  mortally  wounded  during  the  day,  while  making  a 
daring  assault  on  the  Confederate  works,  at  the  head  of  his  men. 

During  the  afternoon,  the  Confederate  attack  upon  Han 
cock's  and  Burnside's  forces,  which  constituted  nearly  half  the 
entire  army,  was  so  severe  that  the  Federal  lines  began  to  give 
way.  The  combatants  swayed  back  and  forth ;  the  Confederates 
seized  the  Federal  breastworks  repeatedly,  only  to  be  repulsed 
again  and  again.  Once,  the  Southern  colors  were  placed  on 
the  Union  battlements.  A  fire  in  the  forest,  which  had  been 
burning  for  hours,  and  in  which,  it  is  estimated,  about  two 
hundred  of  the  Federal  wounded  perished,  was  communicated 
to  the  timber  entrenchments,  the  heat  and  smoke  driving  into 
the  faces  of  the  men  on  the  Union  side,  and  compelling  them 
in  some  places  to  abandon  the  wrorks.  Hancock  made  a  gal 
lant  and  heroic  effort  to  re-form  his  lines  and  push  the  attack, 
and,  as  he  rode  along  the  lines,  his  inspiring  presence  elicited 
cheer  upon  cheer  from  the  men,  but  the  troops  had  exhausted 
their  ammunition,  the  wagons  wrere  in  the  rear,  and  as  night 
was  approaching,  further  attack  was  abandoned.  The  contest 
ended  on  the  lines  where  it  began. 

Later  in  the  evening  consternation  swept  the  Federal 
camp  when  heavy  firing  was  heard  in  the  direction  of  Sedg- 
wick's  corps,  on  the  right.  The  report  was  current  that  the 
entire  Sixth  Corps  had  been  attacked  and  broken.  What  had 
happened  was  a  surprise  attack  by  the  Confederates, 


1 


ONE  OF    GRANT'S  FIELD-TELEGRAPH  STATIONS  IN   1864 


This  photograph,  taken  at  Wilcox  Landing,  near  City  Point,  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  the  difficulties  under 
which  telegraphing  was  done  at  the  front  or  on  the  march.  With  a  tent-fly  for  shelter  and  a  hard-tack  box 
for  a  table,  the  resourceful  operator  mounted  his  "relay,"  tested  his  wire,  and  brought  the  commanding  gen 
eral  into  direct  communication  with  separated  brigades  or  divisions.  The  U.  S.  Military  Telegraph  Corps, 
through  its  Superintendent  of  Construction,  Dennis  Doren,  kept  Meade  and  both  wrings  of  his  army  in 
communication  from  the  crossing  of  the  Rapidan  in  May,  1864,  till  the  siege  of  Petersburg.  Over  this  field- 
line  Grant  received  daily  reports  from  four  separate  armies,  numbering  a  quarter  of  a  million  men,  and  re 
plied  with  daily  directions  for  their  operations  over  an  area  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square 
miles.  Though  every  corps  of  Meade's  army  moved  daily,  Doren  kept  them  in  touch  with  headquarters. 
The  field-line  was  built  of  seven  twisted,  rubber-coated  wires  which  were  hastily  strung  on  trees  or  fences. 


Sattb  in 


commanded  by  General  John  B.  Gordon,  on  Sedgwick's  right 
flank,  Generals  Seymour  and  Shaler  with  six  hundred  men 
being  captured.  When  a  message  was  received  from  Sedg- 
wick  that  the  Sixth  Corps  was  safe  in  an  entirely  new  line, 
there  was  great  rejoicing  in  the  Union  camp. 

Thus  ended  the  two  days'  fighting  of  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness,  one  of  the  greatest  struggles  in  history.  It  was 
Grant's  first  experience  in  the  East,  and  his  trial  measure  of 
arms  with  his  great  antagonist,  General  Lee.  The  latter  re 
turned  to  his  entrenchments  and  the  Federals  remained  in  their 
position.  The  first  clash  had  been  undecisive.  While  Grant 
had  been  defeated  in  his  plan  to  pass  around  Lee,  yet  he  had 
made  a  new  record  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  he  was 
not  turned  from  his  purpose  of  putting  himself  between  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  and  the  capital  of  the  Confed 
eracy.  During  the  two  days'  engagement,  there  were  ten  hours 
of  actual  fighting,  with  a  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  of  about 
seventeen  thousand  Union  and  nearly  twelve  thousand  Con 
federates,  nearly  three  thousand  men  sacrificed  each  hour.  It 
is  the  belief  of  some  military  writers  that  Lee  deliberately 
chose  the  Wilderness  as  a  battle-ground,  as  it  would  effectually 
conceal  great  inferiority  of  force,  but  if  this  be  so  he  seems  to 
have  come  to  share  the  unanimous  opinions  of  the  generals  of 
both  sides  that  its  difficulties  were  linsurmountable,  and  within 
his  entrenchments  he  awaited  further  attack.  It  did  not  come. 

The  next  night,  May  7th,  Grant's  march  by  the  Confed 
erate  right  flank  was  resumed,  but  only  to  be  blocked  again 
by  the  dogged  determination  of  the  tenacious  antagonist,  a 
few  miles  beyond,  at  Spotsylvania.  Lee  again  anticipated 
Grant's  move.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  minds  of  these  two 
men  moved  along  the  same  lines  in  military  strategy,  when 
we  remember  they  were  both  military  experts  of  the  highest 
order,  and  were  now  working  out  the  same  problem.  The 
results  obtained  by  each  are  told  in  the  story  of  the  battle  of 
Spotsylvania. 


ANDREW     CARNEGIE     SUPERINTENDED 
MILITARY     RAILWAYS     AND     GOVERN 
MENT    TELEGRAPH    LINES   IN    1861 


TELEGRAPHING    FOR    THE 
ARMIES 

ANDREW   CARNEGIE 

The  man  who  established  the  Federal  military 
telegraph  system  amid  the  first  horrors  of  war 
was  to  become  one  of  the  world's  foremost  ad 
vocates  of  peace.  As  the  right  hand  man  of 
Thomas  A.  Scott,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  he 
came  to  Washington  in  '61,  and  was  immediately 
put  in  charge  of  the  field  work  of  reestablishing 
communication  between  the  Capital  and  the 
North,  cut  off  by  the  Maryland  mobs.  A  tele 
graph  operator  himself,  he  inaugurated  the  system 
of  cipher  despatches  for  the  War  Department  and 
secured  the  trusted  operators  with  whom  the 
service  was  begun.  A  young  man  of  twenty- 
four  at  the  time,  he  was  one  of  the  last  to  leave 
the  battlefield  of  Bull  Run,  and  his  duties  of 
general  superintendence  over  the  network  of  rail 
roads  and  telegraph  lines  made  him  a  witness  of 
war's  cruelties  on  other  fields  until  he  with  his 
chief  left  the  government  service  June  1,  1862. 


THE     MILITARY 

FIELD 
TELEGRAPH 


"No  orders  ever  had  to  be  given 
to  establish  the  telegraph."  Thus 
wrote  General  Grant  in  his 
memoirs.  "The  moment  troops 
were  in  position  to  go  into  camp, 
the  men  would  put  up  their 
wires."  Grant  pays  a  glowing 
tribute  to  "the  organization  and 
discipline  of  this  body  of  brave 
and  intelligent  men." 


THE    MILITARY   TELEGRAPH    IN   THE    FIELD 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  ARMY  SAVING  THE  NAVY  IN  MAY,  1864 


\ 


Here  the  army  is  saving  the  navy  by  a  brilliant  piece  of  engineering  that  prevented  the  loss  of  a 
fleet  worth  $2,000,000.  The  Red  River  expedition  was  one  of  the  most  humiliating  ever  under 
taken  by  the  Federals.  Porter's  fleet,  which  had  so  boldly  advanced  above  the  falls  at  Alexandria, 
was  ordered  back,  only  to  find  that  the  river  was  so  low  as  to  imprison  twelve  vessels.  Lieut.- 
Colonel  Joseph  Bailey,  acting  engineer  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  obtained  permission  to  build  a  dam  in 
order  to  make  possible  the  passage  of  the  fleet.  Begun  on  ApriRJO,  1864,  the  work  was  finished  on  the  8th 
of  May,  almost  entirely  by  the  soldiers,  working  incessantly  day  and  night,  often  up  to  their  necks  in  water 
and  under  the  broiling  sun.  Bailey  succeeded  in  turning  the  whole  current  into  one  channel  and  the 
squadron  passed  below  to  safety.  Not  often  have  inland  lumbermen  been  the  means  of  saving  a  navy. 


The  army  engineers  laughed  at  this  wide- 
browed,  unassuming  man  when  he  sug 
gested  building  a  dam  so  as  to  release 
Admiral  Porter's  fleet  imprisoned  by  low 
water  above  the  Falls  at  Alexandria  at  the 
close  of  the  futile  Red  River  expedition  in 
1864.  Bailey  had  been  a  lumberman  in 
Wisconsin  and  had  there  gained  the  prac 
tical  experience  which  taught  him  that  the 
plan  was  feasible.  He  was  Acting  Chief 
Engineer  of  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps  at 
this  time,  and  obtained  permission  to  go 
ahead  and  build  his  dam.  In  the  under 
taking  he  had  the  approval  and  earnest 
support  of  Admiral  Porter,  who  refused  to 
consider  for  a  moment  the  abandonment 
of  any  of  his  vessels  even  though  the  Red 
River  expedition  had  been  ordered  to  re 
turn  and  General  Banks  was  chafing  at  de 
lay  and  sending  messages  to  Porter  that  his 
troops  must  be  got  in  motion  at  once. 


Bailey  pushed  on  with  his  work  and  in 
eleven  days  he  succeeded  in  so  raising  the 
water  in  the  channel  that  all  the  Federal 
vessels  were  able  to  pass  down  below  the 
Falls.  "Words  are  inadequate,"  said  Ad 
miral  Porter,  in  his  report,  "to  express  the 
admiration  I  feel  for  the  ability  of  Lieut. 
Colonel  Bailey.  This  is  without  doubt  the 
best  engineering  feat  ever  performed.  .  .  . 
The  highest  honors  the  Government  can 
bestow  on  Colonel  Bailey  can  never  repay 
him  for  the  service  he  has  rendered  the 
country."  For  this  achievement  Bailey 
was  promoted  to  colonel,  brevetted  briga 
dier  general,  voted  the  thanks  of  Congress, 
and  presented  with  a  sword  and  a  purse  of 
$3,000  by  the  officers  of  Porter's  fleet.  He 
settled  in  Missouri  after  the  war  and  was  a 
formidable  enemy  of  the  "Bushwhackers" 
till  he  was  shot  by  them  on  March  21,  1867. 
He  was  born  at  Salem,  Ohio,  April  28, 1827. 


COLONEL  JOSEPH  BAILEY  IN  1864. 

THE   MAN  WHO  SAVED   THE   FLEET. 


READY  FOR   HER   BAPTISM. 

This  powerful  gunboat,  the  Lafayette,  though  accompanying  Admiral  Porter  on  the  Red  River  expedition,  was  not  one  of  those  en 
trapped  at  Alexandria.  Her  heavy  draft  precluded  her  being  taken  above  the  Falls.  Here  we  see  her  lying  above  Vicksburg  in  the 
spring  of  1863.  She  and  her  sister  ship,  the  Choctaw,  were  side-wheel  steamers  altered  into  casemate  ironclads  with  rams.  The 
Lafayette  had  the  stronger  armament,  carrying  two  11-inch  Dahlgrens  forward,  four  9-inch  guns  in  the  broadside,  and  two  24- 
pound  howitzers,  with  two  100-pound  Parrott  guns  astern.  She  and  the  Choctaw  were  the  most  important  acquisitions  to  Porter's 
fleet  toward  the  end  of  1862.  The  Lafayette  was  built  and  armed  for  heavy  fighting.  She  got  her  first  taste  of  it  on  the  night  of 
April  16,  1863,  when  Porter  took  part  of  his  fleet  past  the  Vicksburg  batteries  to  support  Grant's  crossing  of  the  river  in  an 
advance  on  Vicksburg  from  below.  The  Lafayette,  with  a  barge  and  a  transport  lashed  to  her,  held  her  course  with  difficulty 
through  the  tornado  of  shot  and  shell  which  poured  from  the  Confederate  batteries  on  the  river  front  in  Vicksburg  as  soon  as  the 
movement  was  discovered.  The  Lafayette  stood  up  to  this  fiery  christening  and  successfully  ran  the  gantlet,  as  did  all  the  other 
vessels  save  one  transport.  She  was  commanded  during  the  Red  River  expedition  by  Lieutenant-Commander  J.  P.  Foster. 


FARRAGUT  AT  THE  PINNACLE  OF  HIS  FAME 

Leaning  on  the  cannon,  Commander  David  Glasgow  Farragut  and  Captain  Percival  Draytonr  chief  of  staff,  stand  on  the  deck  of  the 
"Hartford,"  after  the  victory  in  Mobile  Bay,  of  August,  1864.  When  Gustavus  V.  Fox,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  proposed 
the  capture  of  New  Orleans  from  the  southward  he  was  regarded  as  utterly  foolhardy.  All  that  was  needed,  however,  to  make  Fox's 
plan  successful  was  the  man  with  spirit  enough  to  undertake  it  and  judgment  sufficient  to  carry  it  out.  Here  on  the  deck  of  the  fine  new 
sloop-of-war  that  had  been  assigned  to  him  as  flagship,  stands  the  man  who  had  just  accomplished  a  greater  feat  that  made  him  a  world 
figure  as  famous  as  Nelson.  The  Confederacy  had  found  its  great  general  among  its  own  people,  but  the  great  admiral  of  the  war, 
although  of  Southern  birth,  had  refused  to  fight  against  the  flag  for  which,  as  a  boy  in  the  War  of  1812,  he  had  seen  men  die.  Full 
of  the  fighting  spirit  of  the  old  navy,  he  was  able  to  achieve  the  first  great  victory  that  gave  new  hope  to  the  Federal  cause. 
Percival  Drayton  was  also  a  Southerner,  a  South  Carolinian,  whose  brothers  and  uncles  were  fighting  for  the  South. 


"FAR  BY  GRAY  MORGAN'S  WALLS"— THE  MOBILE  BAY  FORT,   BATTERED  BY  FARRAGUT'S  GUNS 


How  formidable  was  Farragut's  undertaking  in  forcing  his  way 
into  Mobile  Bay  is  apparent  from  these  photographs.  For  wooden 
vessels  to  pass  Morgan  and  Gaines,  two  of  the  strongest  forts  on 
the  coast,  was  pronounced  by  experts  most  foolhardy.  Besides, 
the  channel  was  planted  with  torpedoes  that  might  blow  the 
ships  to  atoms,  and  within  the  bay  was  the  Confederate  ram 
Tennessee,  thought  to  be  the  most  powerful  ironclad  ever  put 
afloat.  In  the  arrangements  for  the  attack,  Farragut's  flagship, 
the  Hartford,  was  placed  second,  the 
Brooklyn  leading  the  line  of  battleships, 
which  were  preceded  by  four  mon 
itors.  At  a  quarter  before  sis,  on  the 
morning  of  August  5th,  the  fleet  moved. 
Half  an  hour  later  it  came  within  range 
of  Fort  Morgan.  The  whole  undertaking 
was  then  threatened  with  disaster.  The 
monitor  Tecumseh,  eager  to  engage  the 
Confederate  ram  Tennessee  behind  the 
line  of  torpedoes,  ran  straight  ahead, 
struck  a  torpedo,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
went  down  with  most  of  the  crew.  As 
the  monitor  sank,  the  Brooklyn  recoiled. 
Farragut  signaled:  "What's  the  trou 
ble?"  "Torpedoes,"  was  the  answer. 


WHERE  BROADSIDES  STRUCK 


"Damn  the  torpedoes!"  shouted  Farragut.  "Go  ahead,  Captain 
Drayton.  Four  bells."  Finding  that  the  smoke  from  the  guns 
obstructed  the  view  from  the  deck,  Farragut  ascended  to  the 
rigging  of  the  main  mast,  where  he  was  in  great  danger  of  being 
struck  and  of  falling  to  the  deck.  The  captain  accordingly 
ordered  a  quartermaster  to  tie  him  in  the  shrouds.  The  Hart 
ford,  under  a  full  head  of  steam,  rushed  over  the  torpedo  ground 
far  in  advance  of  the  fleet.  The  battle  was  not  yet  over.  The 
Confederate  ram,  invulnerable  to  the 
broadsides  of  the  Union  guns,  steamed 
alone  for  the  ships,  while  the  ramparts  of 
the  two  forts  were  crowded  with  spectators 
of  the  coming  conflict.  The  ironclad 
monster  made  straight  for  the  flagship, 
attempting  to  ram  it  and  paying  no  atten 
tion  to  the  fire  or  the  ramming  of  the 
other  vessels.  Its  first  effort  was  unsuc 
cessful,  but  a  second  came  near  proving 
fatal.  It  then  became  a  target  for  the 
whole  Union  fleet;  finally  its  rudder-chain 
was  shot  away  and  it  became  unmanage 
able;  in  a  few  minutes  it  raised  the  white 
flag.  No  wonder  Americans  call  Farra 
gut  the  greatest  of  naval  commanders. 


T.ZVIEWO  co. 


THE    "HARTFORD"    JUST    AFTER   THE   BATTLE   OF    MOBILE  BAY 


This  vivid  photograph,  taken 
in  Mobile  Bay  by  a  war-time 
photographer  from  New  Or 
leans,  was  presented  by  Captain 
Dray  ton  of  the  "Hartford"  to 
T.  W.  Eastman,  U.  S.  N.,  whose 
family  has  courteously  allowed 
its  reproduction  here.  Never  was 
exhibited  a  more  superb  morale 
than  on  the  "Hartford"  as  she 
steamed  in  line  to  the  attack  of 
Fort  Morgan  at  Mobile  Bay  on 
the  morning  of  August  5,  1864. 
Every  man  was  at  his  station 
thinking  his  own  thoughts  in 
the  suspense  of  that  moment. 
On  the  quarterdeck  stood  Cap 
tain  Percival  Drayton  and  his 
staff.  Near  them  was  the 
chief  -  quartermaster,  John  H. 
Knowles,  ready  to  hoist  the 
signals  that  would  convey  Far- 
ragut's  orders  to  the  fleet.  The 
admiral  himself  was  in  the  port 


main  shrouds  twenty-five  feet 
above  the  deck.  All  was  silence 
aboard  till  the  "Hartford"  was 
in  easy  range  of  the  fort.  Then 
the  great  broadsides  of  the  old 
ship  began  to  take  their  part  in 
the  awful  cannonade.  During 
the  early  part  of  the  action 
Captain  Drayton,  fearing  that 
some  damage  to  the  rigging 
might  pitch  Farragut  over 
board,  sent  Knowrles  on  his 
famous  mission.  "I  went  up," 
said  the  old  sailor,  "with  a 
piece  of  lead  line  and  made  it 
fast  to  one  of  the  forward 
shrouds,  and  then  took  it  around 
the  admiral  to  the  after  shroud, 
making  it  fast  there.  The  ad 
miral  said,  'Never  mind,  I'm  all 
right,'  but  I  went  ahead  and 
obeyed  orders."  Later  Farragut, 
undoing  the  lashing  with  his 
own  hands,  climbed  higher  still. 


QUARTERMASTER    KNOWLES 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


FORT  MORGAN— A  BOMBARDMENT  BRAVELY  ANSWERED 

The  battered  walls  of  Fort  Morgan,  in  1864,  tell  of  a  terrific  smashing  by  the  Federal  navy.  But  the  gallant  Confederates  returned 
the  blows  with  amazing  courage  and  skill;  the  rapidity  and  accuracy  of  their  fire  was  rarely  equalled  in  the  war.  In  the  terrible  conflict 
the  "Hartford"  was  struck  twenty  times,  the  "Brooklyn"  thirty,  the  "Octorora"  seventeen,  the  "Metacomet"  eleven,  the  "Lacka- 
wanna"  five,  the  "Ossipee"  four,  the  "Monongahela"  five,  the  "Kennebec"  two,  and  the  " Galena "  seven.  Of  the  monitors  the 
"Chickasaw"  was  struck  three  times,  the  "Manhattan"  nine,  and  the  "  Winnebago"  nineteen.  The  total  loss  in  the  Federal  fleet  was 
52  killed  and  170  wounded,  while  on  the  Confederate  gunboats  12  were  killed  and  20  wounded.  The  night  after  the  battle  the  "  Meta 
comet"  was  turned  into  a  hospital-ship  and  the  wounded  of  both  sides  were  taken  to  Pensacola.  The  pilot  of  the  captured 
"Tennessee"  guided  the  Federal  ship  through  the  torpedoes,  and  as  she  was  leaving  Pensacola  on  her  return  trip  Midshipman 
Carter  of  the  "Tennessee,"  who  also  was  on  the  "Metacomet,"  called  out  from  the  wharf:  "Don't  attempt  to  fire  No.  2  gun  (of  the 
"  Tennessee"),  as  there  is  a  shell  jammed  in  the  bore,  and  the  gun  will  burst  and  kill  some  one."  All  felt  there  had  been  enough  bloodshed. 


EVIEWS   CO. 


THE   BRAVEST  OF  THE   BRAVE— THE   CONFEDERATE   IRONCLAD   RAM   "TENNESSEE" 

Mobile  Bay,  on  the  morning  of  August  5,  1804,  was  the  arena  of  more  conspicuous  heroism  than  marked  any  naval  battle-ground  of 
the  entire  war.  Among  all  the  daring  deeds  of  that  day  stands  out  superlatively  the  gallant  manner  in  which  Admiral  Franklin 
Buchanan,  C.  S.  N.,  fought  his  vessel,  the  "Tennessee."  "You  shall  not  have  it  to  say  when  you  leave  this  vessel  that  you  were  not 
near  enough  to  the  enemy,  for  I  will  meet  them,  and  then  you  can  fight  them  alongside  of  their  own  ships;  and  if  I  fall,  lay  me  on  one 
side  and  go  on  with  the  fight."  Thus  Buchanan  addressed  his  men,  and  then,  taking  his  station  in  the  pilot-house,  he  took  his  vessel 
into  action.  The  Federal  fleet  carried  more  power  for  destruction  than  the  combined  English,  French,  and  Spanish  fleets  at  Trafalgar, 
and  yet  Buchanan  made  good  his  boast  that  he  would  fight  alongside.  No  sooner  had  Farragut  crossed  the  torpedoes  than  Buchanan 
matched  that  deed,  running  through  the  entire  line  of  Federal  vessels,  braving  their  broadsides,  and  coming  to  close  quarters  witli  most 
of  them.  Then  the  "Tennessee"  ran  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Morgan  for  a  breathing  space.  In  half  an  hour  she  was  steaming  up 
the  bay  to  fight  the  entire  squadron  single-handed.  Such  boldness  was  scarce  believable,  for  Buchanan  had  now  not  alone  wooden 
ships  to  contend  with,  as  when  in  the  "Merrimac"  he  had  dismayed  the  Federals  in  Hampton  Roads.  Three  powerful  monitors  were 
to  oppose  him  at  point-blank  range.  For  nearly  an  hour  the  gunners  in  the  "Tennessee"  fought,  breathing  powder-smoke  amid  an 
atmosphere  superheated  to  120  degrees.  Buchanan  was  serving  a  gun  himself  when  he  was  wounded  and  carried  to  the  surgeon's 
table  below.  Captain  Johnston  fought  on  for  another  twenty  minutes,  and  then  the  "Tennessee,"  with  her  rudder  and  engines  useless 
and  unable  to  fire  a  gun,  was  surrendered,  after  a  reluctant  consent  had  been  wrung  from  Buchanan,  as  he  lay  on  the  operating  table. 


[Part  XI] 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SPOTSYLVANIA 
COURT  HOUSE 

But  to  Spotsylvania  history  will  accord  the  palm,  I  am  sure,  for  hav 
ing  furnished  an  unexampled  muzzle-to-muzzle  fire ;  the  longest  roll  of 
incessant,  unbroken  musketry;  the  most  splendid  exhibition  of  individual 
heroism  and  personal  daring  by  large  numbers,  who,  standing  in  the 
freshly  spilt  blood  of  their  fellows,  faced  for  so  long  a  period  and  at  so 
short  a  range  the  flaming  rifles  as  they  heralded  the  decrees  of  death. 
This  heroism  was  confined  to  neither  side.  It  was  exhibited  by  both 
armies,  and  in  that  hand-to-hand  struggle  for  the  possession  of  the  breast 
works  it  seemed  almost  universal.  It  would  be  commonplace  truism  to 
say  that  such  examples  will  not  be  lost  to  the  Republic. — General  John  B. 
Gordon,  C.S.A.,  in  "Reminiscences  of  the  Civil  War" 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  cessation  of  hostilities  on  the 
6th  of  May  in  the  Wilderness,  Grant  determined  to  move 
his  army  to  Spotsylvania  Court  House,  and  to  start  the  wagon 
trains  on  the  afternoon  of  the  7th.  Grant's  object  was,  by  a 
flank  move,  to  get  between  Lee  and  Richmond.  Lee  foresaw 
Grant's  purpose  and  also  moved  his  cavalry,  under  Stuart, 
across  the  opponent's  path.  As  an  illustration  of  the  exact 
science  of  war  we  see  the  two  great  military  leaders  racing 
for  position  at  Spotsylvania  Court  House.  It  was  revealed 
later  that  Lee  had  already  made  preparations  on  this  field  a 
year  before,  in  anticipation  of  its  being  a  possible  battle 
ground. 

Apprised  of  the  movement  of  the  Federal  trains,  Lee, 
with  his  usual  sagacious  foresight,  surmised  their  destination. 
He  therefore  ordered  General  R.  H.  Anderson,  now  in  com 
mand  of  Longstreet's  corps,  to  march  to  Spotsylvania  Court 
House  at  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  8th.  But  the 
smoke  and  flames  from  the  burning  forests  that  surrounded 


// 


'//W 


< 


\ 


Anderson's  camp  in  the  Wilderness  made  the  position  unten 
able,  and  the  march  was  begun  at  eleven  o'clock  on  the  night 
of  the  7th.  This  early  start  proved  of  inestimable  value  to 
the  Confederates.  Anderson's  right,  in  the  Wilderness,  rested 
opposite  Hancock's  left,  and  the  Confederates  secured  a  more 
direct  line  of  march  to  Spotsylvania,  several  miles  shorter  than 
that  of  the  Federals.  The  same  night  General  Ewell  at  the 
extreme  Confederate  left  was  ordered  to  follow  Anderson  at 
daylight,  if  he  found  no  large  force  in  his  front.  This  order 
was  followed  out,  there  being  no  opposing  troops,  and  the 
corps  took  the  longest  route  of  any  of  Lee's  troops.  General 
Ewell  found  the  march  exhausting  and  distressing  on  account 
of  the  intense  heat  and  dust  and  smoke  from  the  burning 
forests. 

The  Federal  move  toward  Spotsylvania  Court  House  was 
begun  after  dark  on  the  7th.  Warren's  corps,  in  the  lead,  took 
the  Brock  road  behind  Hancock's  position  and  was  followed 
by  Sedgwick,  who  marched  by  way  of  Chancellorsville.  Burn- 
side  came  next,  but  he  was  halted  to  guard  the  trains.  Han 
cock,  covering  the  move,  did  not  start  the  head  of  his  command 
until  some  time  after  daylight.  When  Warren  reached  Todd's 
Tavern  he  found  the  Union  cavalry  under  Merrill  in  conflict 
with  Fitzhugh  Lee's  division  of  Stuart's  cavalry.  Warren 
sent  Robinson's  division  ahead;  it  drove  Fitzhugh  Lee  back, 
and,  advancing  rapidly,  met  the  head  of  Anderson's  troops. 
The  leading  brigades  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  cavalry; 
Warren  was  finally  repulsed  and  began  entrenching.  The 
Confederates  gained  Spotsylvania  Court  House. 

Throughout  the  day  there  was  continual  skirmishing  be 
tween  the  troops,  as  the  Northerners  attempted  to  break  the 
line  of  the  Confederates.  But  the  men  in  gray  stood  firm. 
Every  advance  of  the  blue  was  repulsed.  Lee  again  blocked 
the  way  of  Grant's  move.  The  Federal  loss  during  the  day 
had  been  about  thirteen  hundred,  while  the  Confederates  lost 
fewer  men  than  their  opponents. 


IN  THE  AUTUMN  OF  1863— GRANT'S  CHANGING  EXPRESSIONS 

Although  secure  in  his  fame  as  the  conqueror  of  Vicksburg,  Grant  still  has  the  greater  part  of  his  destiny  to  fulfil  as  he  faces 
the  camera.  Before  him  lie  the  Wilderness,  Spotsylvania,  Cold  Harbor,  and  the  slow  investment  of  Petersburg.  This  series 
forms  a  particularly  interesting  study  in  expression.  At  the  left  hand,  the  face  looks  almost  amused.  In  the  next  the  ex 
pression  is  graver,  the  mouth  close  set.  The  third  picture  looks  plainly  obstinate,  and  in  the  last  the  stern  fighter  might, 
have  been  declaring,  as  in  the  following  spring:  "I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer."  The  eyes, 
first  unveiled  fully  in  this  fourth  view,  are  the  unmistakable  index  to  Grant's  stern  inflexibility,  once  his  decision  was  made. 


IN  THE  AUTUMN  OF  1864— AFTER  THE  STRAIN  OF  THE  WILDERNESS  CAMPAIGN 
Here  is  a  furrowed  brow  above  eyes  worn  by  pain.  In  the  pictures  of  the  previous  year  the  forehead  is  more  smooth,  the 
expression  grave  yet  confident.  Here  the  expression  is  that  of  a  man  who  has  won,  but  won  at  a  bitter  cost.  It  is  the  memory 
of  the  50,000  men  whom  he  left  in  the  Wilderness  campaign  and  at  Cold  Harbor  that  has  lined  this  brow,  and  closed  still 
tighter  this  inflexible  mouth.  Again,  as  in  the  series  above,  the  eyes  are  not  revealed  until  the  last  picture.  Then  again 
flashes  the  determination  of  a  hero.  The  great  general's  biographers  say  that  Grant  was  a  man  of  sympathy  and  infinite 
pity.  It  was  the  more  difficult  for  him,  spurred  on  to  the  duty  by  grim  necessity,  to  order  forward  the  lines  in  blue  that 
withered,  again  and  again,  before  the  Confederate  fire,  but  each  time  weakened  the  attenuated  line  which  confronted  them. 


mtb  tty 


Attgte      * 


May 
1864 


The  work  of  both  was  now  the  construction  of  entrench 
ments,  which  consisted  of  earthworks  sloping  to  either  side, 
with  logs  as  a  parapet,  and  between  these  works  and  the  op 
posing  army  were  constructed  what  are  known  as  abatis,  felled 
trees,  with  the  branches  cut  off,  the  sharp  ends  projecting 
toward  the  approaching  forces. 

Lee's  entrenchments  were  of  such  character  as  to  increase 
the  efficiency  of  his  force.  They  wrere  formed  in  the  shape 
of  a  huge  V  with  the  apex  flattened,  forming  a  salient  angle 
against  the  center  of  the  Federal  line.  The  Confederate  lines 
were  facing  north,  northwest,  and  northeast,  the  corps  com 
manded  by  Anderson  on  the  left,  Ewell  in  the  center,  and 
Early  on  the  right,  the  latter  temporarily  replacing  A.  P. 
Hill,  who  was  ill.  The  Federals  confronting  them  were  Burn- 
side  on  the  left,  Sedgwick  and  Warren  in  the  center,  and 
Hancock  on  the  right. 

The  day  of  the  9th  was  spen,t  in  placing  the  lines  of 
troops,  with  no  fighting  except  skirmishing  and  some  sharp- 
shooting.  While  placing  some  field-pieces,  General  Sedgwick 
was  hit  by  a  sharpshooter's  bullet  and  instantly  killed.  He 
was  a  man  of  high  character,  a  most  competent  commander, 
of  fearless  courage,  loved  and  lamented  by  the  army.  Gen 
eral  Horatio  G.  Wright  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the 
Sixth  Corps. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  10th,  the  Confederates  dis 
covered  that  Hancock  had  crossed  the  Po  River  in  front  of 
his  position  of  the  day  before  and  was  threatening  their  rear. 
Grant  had  suspected  that  Lee  \vas  about  to  move  north  toward 
Fredericksburg,  and  Hancock  had  been  ordered  to  make  a 
reconnaissance  with  a  view  to  attacking  and  turning  the  Con 
federate  left.  But  difficulties  stood  in  the  wray  of  Hancock's 
performance,  and  before  he  had  accomplished  much,  Meade 
directed  him  to  send  two  of  his  divisions  to  assist  Warren  in 
making  an  attack  on  the  Southern  lines.  The  Second  Corps 
started  to  recross  the  Po.  Before  all  were  over  Early  made 


(L. 


MEADE  AND  SEDGWICK— BEFORE  THE  ADVANCE  THAT  BROUGHT  SEDGWICK'S 

DEATH  AT  SPOTSYLVANIA 

To  the  right  of  General  Meade,  his  chief  and  friend,  stands  Major-General  John  Sedgwick,  commanding 
the  Sixth  Army  Corps.  He  wears  his  familiar  round  hat  and  is  smiling.  He  was  a  great  tease;  evidently 
the  performances  of  the  civilian  who  had  brought  his  new-fangled  photographic  apparatus  into  camp  sug 
gested  a  joke.  A  couple  of  months  later,  on  the  9th  of  May,  Sedgwick  again  was  jesting — before  Spot- 
sylvania  Court  House.  McMahon  of  his  staff  had  begged  him  to  avoid  passing  some  artillery  exposed  to 
the  Confederate  fire,  to  which  Sedgwick  had  playfully  replied,  "McMahon,  I  would  like  to  know  who 
commands  this  corps,  you  or  I?"  Then  he  ordered  some  infantry  before  him  to  shift  toward  the  right. 
Their  movement  drew  the  fire  of  the  Confederates.  The  lines  were  close  together;  the  situation  tense.  A 
sharpshooter's  bullet  whistled — Sedgwick  fell.  He  was  taken  to  Meade's  headquarters.  The  Army  of 
the  Potomac  had  lost  another  corps  commander,  and  the  Union  a  brilliant  and  courageous  soldier. 


Attgl? 


May 
1864 


a  vigorous  assault  on  the  rear  division,  which  did  not  escape 
without  heavy  loss.  In  this  engagement  the  corps  lost  the 
first  gun  in  its  most  honorable  career,  a  misfortune  deeply 
lamented  by  every  man  in  the  corps,  since  up  to  this  moment 
it  had  long  been  the  only  one  in  the  entire  army  which  could 
make  the  proud  claim  of  never  having  lost  a  gun  or  a  color. 

But  the  great  event  of  the  10th  was  the  direct  assault 
upon  the  Confederate  front.  Meade  had  arranged  for  Han 
cock  to  take  charge  of  this,  and  the  appointed  hour  was  five 
in  the  afternoon.  But  Warren  reported  earlier  that  the  op 
portunity  was  most  favorable,  and  he  was  ordered  to  start  at 
once.  Wearing  his  full  uniform,  the  leader  of  the  Fifth  Corps 
advanced  at  a  quarter  to  four  with  the  greater  portion  of  his 
troops.  The  progress  of  the  valiant  Northerners  was  one  of 
the  greatest  difficulty,  owing  to  the  dense  wood  of  low  cedar- 
trees  through  which  they  had  to  make  their  way.  Longstreet's 
corps  behind  their  entrenchments  acknowledged  the  advance 
with  very  heavy  artillery  and  musket  fire.  But  Warren's 
troops  did  not  falter  or  pause  until  some  had  reached  the 
abatis  and  others  the  very  crest  of  the  parapet.  A  few,  indeed, 
were  actually  killed  inside  the  works.  All,  however,  who  sur 
vived  the  terrible  ordeal  were  finally  driven  back  with  heavy 
loss.  General  James  C.  Rice  was  mortally  wounded. 

To  the  left  of  Warren,  General  Wright  had  observed 
what  he  believed  to  be  a  vulnerable  spot  in  the  Confederate 
entrenchments.  Behind  this  particular  place  was  stationed 
Doles'  brigade  of  Georgia  regiments,  and  Colonel  Emory 
Upton  was  ordered  to  charge  Doles  with  a  column  of  twelve 
regiments  in  four  lines.  The  ceasing  of  the  Federal  artillery 
at  six  o'clock  was  the  signal  for  the  charge,  and  twenty  min 
utes  later,  as  Upton  tells  us,  "  at  command,  the  lines  rose, 
moved  noiselessly  to  the  edge  of  the  wood,  and  then,  with  a 
wild  cheer  and  faces  averted,  rushed  for  the  works.  Through 
a  terrible  front  and  flank  fire  the  column  advanced  quickly, 
gaining  the  parapet.  Here  occurred  a  deadly  hand-to-hand 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,  REVIEW  OF   REVIEWS    CO. 

SPOTSYLVANIA  COURT  HOUSE 

WHERE    GRANT    WANTED    TO    " FIGHT    IT    OUT" 

For  miles  around  this  quaint  old  village-pump  surged  the  lines  of  two  vast  con 
tending  armies,  May  8-12,  1864.  In  this  picture  of  only  a  few  months  later,  the 
inhabitants  have  returned  to  their  accustomed  quiet,  although  the  reverberations 
of  battle  have  hardly  died  away.  But  on  May  7th  Generals  Grant  and  Meade, 
with  their  staffs,  had  started  toward  the  little  courthouse.  As  they  passed  along 
the  Brock  Road  in  the  rear  of  Hancock's  lines,  the  men  broke  into  loud  hurrahs. 
They  saw  that  the  movement  was  still  to  be  southward.  But  chance  had  caused 
Lee  to  choose  the  same  objective.  Misinterpreting  Grant's  movement  as  a  retreat 
upon  Fredericksburg,  he  sent  Longstreet's  corps,  now  commanded  by  Anderson, 
to  Spotsylvania.  Chance  again,  in  the  form  of  a  forest  fire,  drove  Anderson  to 
make,  on  the  night  of  May  7th,  the  march  from  the  Wilderness  that  he  had  been 
ordered  to  commence  on  the  morning  of  the  8th.  On  that  day,  while  Warren  was 
contending  with  the  forces  of  Anderson,  Lee's  whole  army  was  entrenching  on 
a  ridge  around  Spotsylvania  Court  House.  "Accident,"  says  Grant,  "often 
decides  the  fate  of  battle."  But  this  "accident"  was  one  of  Lee's  master  moves. 


. 


conflict.  The  enemy,  sitting  in  their  pits  with  pieces  upright, 
loaded,  and  with  bayonets  fixed  ready  to  impale  the  first  who 
should  leap  over,  absolutely  refused  to  yield  the  ground.  The 
first  of  our  men  who  tried  to  surmount  the  works  fell,  pierced 
through  the  head  by  musket-balls.  Others,  seeing  the  fate  of 
their  comrades,  held  their  pieces  at  arm's  length  and  fired 
downward,  while  others,  poising  their  pieces  vertically,  hurled 
them  down  upon  their  enemy,  pinning  them  to  the  ground. 
.  .  .  The  struggle  lasted  but  a  few  seconds.  Numbers  pre 
vailed,  and  like  a  resistless  wave,  the  column  poured  over  the 
works,  quickly  putting  hors  de  combat  those  who  resisted  and 
sending  to  the  rear  those  who  surrendered.  Pressing  forward 
and  expanding  to  the  right  and  left,  the  second  line  of 
entrenchments,  its  line  of  battle,  and  a  battery  fell  into  our 
hands.  The  column  of  assault  had  accomplished  its  task." 

The  Confederate  line  had  been  shattered  and  an  opening 
made  for  expected  support.  This,  however,  failed  to  arrive. 
General  Mott,  on  the  left,  did  not  bring  his  division  forward 
as  had  been  planned  and  as  General  Wright  had  ordered. 
The  Confederates  were  reenforced,  and  Upton  could  do  no 
more  than  hold  the  captured  entrenchments  until  ordered  to 
retire.  He  brought  twelve  hundred  prisoners  and  several 
stands  of  colors  back  to  the  Union  lines;  but  over  a  thousand 
of  his  own  men  were  killed  or  wounded.  For  gallantry  dis 
played  in  this  charge,  Colonel  Upton  was  made  brigadier- 
general. 

The  losses  to  the  Union  army  in  this  engagement  at 
Spotsylvania  were  over  four  thousand.  The  loss  to  the  Con 
federates  was  probably  two  thousand. 

During  the  llth  there  was  a  pause.  The  two  giant  an 
tagonists  took  a  breathing  spell.  It  was  on  the  morning  of  this 
date  that  Grant  penned  the  sentence,  "  I  propose  to  fight  it 
out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer,"  to  his  chief  of  staff, 
General  Halleck. 

During  this  time  Sheridan,  who  had  brought  the  cavalry 


I 


/ 


VI 

'I    '/ 


^ 


,  REVIEW  OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


THE   APEX  OF  THE   BATTLEFIELD 


McCool's  house,  within  the  "Bloody  Angle."  The  photographs 
were  taken  in  1864,  shortly  after  the  struggle  of  Spotsylvania 
Court  House,  and  show  the  old  dwelling  as  it  was  on  May  12th, 
when  the  fighting  was  at  flood  tide  all  round  it;  and  below,  the 
Confederate  entrenchments  near  that  blood-drenched  spot.  At 
a  point  in  these  Confederate  lines  in  advance  of  the  McCool 
house,  the  entrenchments  had  been 
thrown  forward  like  the  salient  of  a 
fort,  and  the  wedge-shaped  space 
within  them  was  destined  to  become 
renowned  as  the  "Bloody  Angle." 
The  position  was  defended  by  the 
famous  "Stonewall  Division"  of  the 
Confederates  under  command  of  Gen 
eral  Edward  Johnson.  It  was  near 
the  scene  of  Upton's  gallant  charge  on 
the  10th.  Here  at  daybreak  on  May 
12th  the  divisions  of  the  intrepid  Bar 
low  and  Birney,  sent  forward  by  Hancock,  stole  a  march  upon 
the  unsuspecting  Confederates.  Leaping  over  the  breastworks 
the  Federals  were  upon  them  and  tLe  first  of  the  terrific  hand- 
to-hand  conflicts  that  marked  the  day  began.  It  ended  in  victory 
for  Hancock's  men,  into  whose  hands  fell  20  cannon,  30  standards 
and  4,000  prisoners,  "the  best  division  in  the  Confederate  army." 


CONFEDERATE  ENTRENCHMENTS  NEAR 
"BLOODY  ANGLE" 


Flushed  with  success,  the  Federals  pressed  on  to  Lee's  second 
line  of  works,  where  Wilcox's  division  of  the  Confederates  held 
them  until  re  enforcements  sent  by  Lee  from  Hill  and  Anderson 
drove  them  back.  On  the  Federal  side  the  Sixth  Corps,  with 
Upton's  brigade  in  the  advance,  was  hurried  forward  to  hold  the 
advantage  gained.  But  Lee  himself  was  on  the  scene,  and  the 
men  of  the  gallant  Gordon's  division, 
pausing  long  enough  to  seize  and  turn 
his  horse,  with  shouts  of  "General 
Lee  in  the  rear,"  hurtled  forward  into 
the  conflict.  In  five  separate  charges 
by  the  Confederates  the  fighting  came 
to  close  quarters.  With  bayonets, 
clubbed  muskets,  swords  and  pistols, 
men  fought  within  two  feet  of  one  an 
other  on  either  side  of  the  entrench 
ments  at  "Bloody  Angle"  till  night  at 
last  left  it  in  possession  of  the  Fed 
erals.  None  of  the  fighting  near  Spotsylvania  Court  House  was 
inglorious.  On  the  10th,  after  a  day  of  strengthening  positions  on 
both  sides,  young  Colonel  Emory  Upton  of  the  121st  New  York,  led 
a  storming  party  of  twelve  regiments  into  the  strongest  of  the 
Confederate  entrenchments.  For  his  bravery  Grant  made  him  a 
brigadier-general  on  the  field. 


pntaglvtama  anfc  ttjr  Blnnhg  Attgte 


May 
1864 


r 


up  to  a  state  of  great  efficiency,  was  making  an  expedition  to 
the  vicinity  of  Richmond.  He  had  said  that  if  he  were  per 
mitted  to  operate  independently  of  the  army  he  would  draw 
Stuart  after  him.  Grant  at  once  gave  the  order,  and  Sheridan 
made  a  detour  around  Lee's  army,  engaging  and  defeating 
the  Confederate  cavalry,  which  he  greatly  outnumbered,  on 
the  llth  of  May,  at  Yellow  Tavern,  where  General  Stuart, 
the  brilliant  commander  of  the  Confederate  cavalry,  was  mor 
tally  wounded. 

Grant  carefully  went  over  the  ground  and  decided  upon 
another  attack  on  the  12th.  About  four  hundred  yards  of 
clear  ground  lay  in  front  of  the  sharp  angle,  or  salient,  of  Lee's 
lines.  After  the  battle  this  point  was  known  as  the  "  Bloody 
Angle,"  and  also  as  "  Hell's  Hole."  Here  Hancock  was 
ordered  to  make  an  attack  at  daybreak  on  the  12th.  Lee  had 
been  expecting  a  move  on  the  part  of  Grant.  On  the  evening 
of  the  10th  he  sent  to  Ewell  this  message:  "  It  will  be  neces 
sary  for  you  to  reestablish  your  whole  line  to-night.  .  .  . 
Perhaps  Grant  will  make  a  night  attack,  as  it  was  a  favorite 
amusement  of  his  at  Vicksburg." 

Through  rain  and  mud  Hancock's  force  was  gotten  into 
position  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  Confederate  breast 
works.  He  was  now  between  Burnside  and  Wright.  At  the 
first  approach  of  dawn  the  four  divisions  of  the  Second  Corps, 
under  Birney,  Mott,  Barlow,  and  Gibbon  (in  reserve)  moved 
noiselessly  to  the  designated  point  of  attack.  Without  a  shot 
being  fired  they  reached  the  Confederate  entrenchments,  and 
struck  with  fury  and  impetuosity  a  mortal  blow  at  the  point 
where  least  expected,  on  the  salient,  held  by  General  Edward 
Johnson  of  Eiwell's  corps.  The  movement  of  the  Federals 
was  so  swift  and  the  surprise  so  complete,  that  the  Confed 
erates  could  make  practically  no  resistance,  and  were  forced 
to  surrender. 

The  artillery  had  been  withdrawn  from  the  earthworks 
occupied  by  Johnson's  troops  on  the  previous  night,  but 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,  PATRIOT   PUB.  CO. 


UNION  ARTILLERY  MASSING 
FOR  THE  ADVANCE  THAT 
EWELL'S  ATTACK  DELAYED 
THAT  SAME  AFTERNOON 

BEVERLY    HOUSE,    MAY    18,    1864 


The  artillery  massing  in  the  meadow  gives  to  this  view  the  interest  of  an  impending  tragedy.  In  the  foreground 
the  officers,  servants,  and  orderlies  of  the  headquarters  mess  camp  are  waiting  for  the  command  to  strike  their 
tents,  pack  the  wagons,  and  move  on.  But  at  the  very  time  this  photograph  was  taken  they  should  have  been 
miles  away.  Grant  had  issued  orders  the  day  before  that  should  have  set  these  troops  in  motion.  However,  the 
Confederate  General  Ewell  had  chosen  the  18th  to  make  an  attack  on  the  right  flank.  It  not  only  delayed  the 
departure  but  forced  a  change  in  the  intended  positions  of  the  division  as  they  had  been  contemplated  by  the 
commander-in-chief.  Beverly  House  is  where  General  Warren  pitched  his  headquarters  after  Spotsylvania, 
and  the  spectator  is  looking  toward  the  battlefield  that  lies  beyond  the  distant  woods.  After  Ewell's  attack, 
Warren  again  found  himself  on  the  right  flank,  and  at  this  very  moment  the  main  body  of  the  Federal  army  is 
passing  in  the  rear  of  him.  The  costly  check  at  Spotsylvania,  with  its  wonderful  display  of  fighting  on  both 
sides,  had  in  its  apparently  fruitless  results  called  for  the  display  of  all  Grant's  gifts  as  a  military  leader.  It 
takes  but  little  imagination  to  supply  color  to  this  photograph;  it  is  full  of  it — full  of  the  movement  and  detail 
of  war  also.  It  is  springtime;  blossoms  have  just  left  the  trees  and  the  whole  country  is  green  and  smiling,  but 
the  earth  is  scarred  by  thousands  of  trampling  feet  and  hoof-prints.  Ugly  ditches  cross  the  landscape;  the  debris 
of  an  army  marks  its  onsweep  from  one  battlefield  to  another. 


developments  had  led  to  an  order  to  have  it  returned  early  in 
the  morning.  It  was  approaching  as  the  attack  was  made. 
Before  the  artillerymen  could  escape  or  turn  the  guns  upon 
the  Federals,  every  cannon  had  been  captured.  General  John 
son  with  almost  his  whole  division,  numbering  about  three 
thousand,  and  General  Steuart,  were  captured,  between  twenty 
and  thirty  colors,  and  several  thousand  stands  of  arms  were 
taken.  Hancock  had  already  distinguished  himself  as  a  leader 
of  his  soldiers,  and  from  his  magnificent  appearance,  noble 
bearing,  and  courage  had  been  called  "  Hancock  the  Superb," 
but  this  was  the  most  brilliant  of  his  military  achievements. 

Pressing  onward  across  the  first  defensive  line  of  the 
Confederates,  Hancock's  men  advanced  against  the  second 
series  of  trenches,  nearly  half  a  mile  beyond.  As  the  Federals 
pushed  through  the  muddy  fields  they  lost  all  formation. 
They  reached  close  to  the  Confederate  line.  The  Southerners 
were  prepared  for  the  attack.  A  volley  poured  into  the  throng 
of  blue,  and  General  Gordon  with  his  reserve  division  rushed 
forward,  fighting  desperately  to  drive  the  Northerners  back. 
As  they  did  so  General  Lee  rode  up,  evidently  intending  to 
go  forward  with  Gordon.  His  horse  was  seized  by  one  of  the 
soldiers,  and  for  the  second  time  in  the  campaign  the  cry  arose 
from  the  ranks,  "  Lee  to  the  rear!  "  The  beloved  commander 
was  led  back  from  the  range  of  fire,  while  the  men,  under  the 
inspiration  of  his  example,  rushed  forward  in  a  charge  that 
drove  the  Federals  back  until  they  had  reached  the  outer  line 
of  works.  Here  they  fought  stubbornly  at  deadly  range. 
Neither  side  was  able  to  force  the  other  back.  But  Gordon 
was  not  able  to  cope  with  the  entire  attack.  Wright  and  War 
ren  both  sent  some  of  their  divisions  to  reenforce  Hancock, 
and  Lee  sent  all  the  assistance  possible  to  the  troops  struggling 
so  desperately  to  restore  his  line  at  the  salient. 

Many  vivid  and  picturesque  descriptions  of  this  fighting 
at  the  angle  have  been  written,  some  by  eye-witnesses,  others 
by  able  historians,  but  no  printed  page,  no  cold  type  can 


i 


'£ 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    PATRIOT  PUB.   CO. 


THE  ONES  WHO  NEVER  CAME  BACK 

These  are  some  of  the  men  for  whom  waiting  women  wept — the  ones  who  never  came  back.  Tr-°v  be 
longed  to  E well's  Corps,  who  attacked  the  Federal  lines  so  gallantly  on  May  18th.  There  may  be  ,*.-_  ..no 
will  turn  from  this  picture  with  a  shudder  of  horror,  but  it  is  no  morbid  curiosity  that  will  cause  them  to 
study  it  closely.  If  pictures  such  as  this  were  familiar  everywhere  there  would  soon  be  an  end  of  war.  We 
can  realize  money  by  seeing  it  expressed  in  figures;  we  can  realize  distances  by  miles,  but  some  things  in 
their  true  meaning  can  only  be  grasped  and  impressions  formed  with  th'e  seeing  eye.  Visualizing  only 
this  small  item  of  the  awful  cost — the  cost  beside  which  money  cuts  no  figure — an  idea  can  be  gained  of  what 
war  is.  Here  is  a  sermon  in  the  cause  of  universal  peace.  The  handsome  lad  lying  with  outstretched 
arms  and  clinched  fingers  is  a  mute  plea.  Death  has  not  disfigured  him — he  lies  in  an  attitude  of  relaxa 
tion  and  composure.  Perhaps  in  some  Southern  home  this  same  face  is  pictured  in  the  old  family  album, 
alert  and  full  of  life  and  hope,  and  here  is  the  end.  Does  there  not  come  to  the  mind  the  insistent  question, 
"Why?"  ^he  Federal  soldiers  standing  in  the  picture  are  not  thinking  of  all  this,  it  may  be  true,  but 
had  they  meditated  in  the  way  that  some  may,  as  they  gaze  at  this  record  of  death,  it  would  be  worth  their 
while.  One  of  the  men  is  apparently  holding  a  sprig  of  blossoms  in  his  hand.  It  is  a  strange  note  here. 


convey  to  the  mind  the  realities  of  that  terrible  conflict.  The 
results  were  appalling.  The  whole  engagement  was  prac 
tically  a  hand-to-hand  contest.  The  dead  lay  beneath  the  feet 
of  the  living,  three  and  four  layers  deep.  This  hitherto  quiet 
spot  of  earth  was  devastated  and  covered  with  the  slain,  wel 
tering  in  their  own  blood,  mangled  and  shattered  into  scarcely 
a  semblance  of  human  form.  Dying  men  were  crushed  by 
horses  and  many,  buried  beneath  the  mire  and  mud,  still  lived. 
Some  artillery  was  posted  on  high  ground  not  far  from  the 
apex  of  the  salient,  and  an  incessant  fire  was  poured  into  the 
Confederate  works  over  the  Union  lines,  while  other  guns  kept 
up  an  enfilade  of  canister  along  the  west  of  the  salient. 

The  contest  from  the  right  of  the  Sixth  to  the  left  of  the 
Second  Corps  was  kept  up  throughout  the  day  along  the 
whole  line.  Repeatedly  the  trenches  had  to  be  cleared  of  the 
dead.  An  oak  tree  twenty-two  inches  in  diameter  was  cut 
down  by  musket-balls.  Men  leaped  upon  the  breastworks, 
firing  until  shot  down. 

The  battle  of  the  "  angle  "  is  said  to  have  been  the  most 
awful  in  duration  and  intensity  in  modern  times.  Battle-line 
after  battle-line,  bravely  obeying  orders,  was  annihilated.  The 
entrenchments  were  shivered  and  shattered,  trunks  of  trees 
carved  into  split  brooms.  Sometimes  the  contestants  came  so 
close  together  that  their  muskets  met,  muzzle  to  muzzle,  and 
their  flags  almost  intertwined  with  each  other  as  they  waved 
in  the  breeze.  As  they  fought  with  the  desperation  of  madmen, 
the  living  would  stand  on  the  bodies  of  the  dead  to  reach  over 
the  breastworks  with  their  weapons  of  slaughter.  Lee  hurled 
his  army  with  unparalleled  vigor  against  his  opponent  five 
times  during  the  day,  but  each  time  was  repulsed.  Until  three 
o'clock  the  next  morning  the  slaughter  continued,  when  the 
Confederates  sank  back  into  their  second  line  of  entrenchments, 
leaving  their  opponents  where  they  had  stood  in  the  morning. 

All  the  fighting  on  the  12th  was  not  done  at  the  "  Bloody 
Angle."  Burnside  on  the  left  of  Hancock  engaged  Early's 


IN  ONE  LONG  BURIAL  TRENCH 


It  fell  to  the  duty  of  the  First  Massachusetts  Heavy  Artillery  of  General  Tyler's  division  to  put  under  ground  the  men  they  slew  in 
the  sharp  battle  of  May  18th,  and  here  they  are  near  Mrs.  Allsop's  barn  digging  the  trench  to  hide  the  dreadful  work  of  bullet  and 
shot  and  shell.  No  feeling  of  bitterness  exists  in  moments  sueh  as  these.  What  soldier  in  the  party  knows  but  what  it  may  be  his 
turn  next  to  lie  beside  other  lumps  of  clay  and  join  his  earth-mother  in  this  same  fashion  in  his  turn.  But  men  become  used  to  work 
of  any  kind,  and  these  men  digging  up  the  warm  spring  soil,  when  their  labor  is  concluded,  are  neither  oppressed  nor  nerve-shattered 
by  what  they  have  seen  and  done.  They  have  lost  the  power  of  experiencing  sensation.  Senses  become  numbed  in  a  measure;  the 
value  of  life  itself  from  close  and  constant  association  with  death  is  minimized  almost  to  the  vanishing  point.  In  half  an  hour  these 
very  men  may  be  singing  and  laughing  as  if  war  and  death  were  only  things  to  be  expected,  not  reasoned  over  in  the  least. 


ONE  OF  THE  FEARLESS  CONFEDERATES 


attft  tip 


Attgb      «$• 


May 

1864 


troops  and  was  defeated,  while  on  the  other  side  of  the  salient 
Wright  succeeded  in  driving  Anderson  back. 

The  question  has  naturally  arisen  why  that  "  salient  " 
was  regarded  of  such  vital  importance  as  to  induce  the  two 
chief  commanders  to  force  their  armies  into  such  a  hand-to- 
hand  contest  that  must  inevitably  result  in  unparalleled  and 
wholesale  slaughter.  It  was  manifest,  however,  that  Grant 
had  shown  generalship  in  finding  the  weak  point  in  Lee's  line 
for  attack.  It  was  imperative  that  he  hold  the  gain  made  by 
his  troops.  Lee  could  ill  afford  the  loss  resistance  would  entail, 
but  he  could  not  withdraw  his  army  during  the  day  without 
disaster. 

The  men  on  both  sides  seemed  to  comprehend  the  gravity 
of  the  situation,  that  it  was  a  battle  to  the  death  for  that  little 
point  of  entrenchment.  Without  urging  by  officers,  and  some 
times  without  officers,  they  fell  into  line  and  fought  and  bled 
and  died  in  myriads  as  though  inspired  by  some  unseen  power. 
Here  men  rushed  to  their  doom  with  shouts  of  courage  and 
eagerness. 

The  pity  of  it  all  was  manifested  by  the  shocking  scene 
on  that  battlefield  the  next  day.  Piles  of  dead  lay  around 
the  "  Bloody  Angle,"  a  veritable  "  Hell's  Hole  "  on  both  sides 
of  the  entrenchments,  four  layers  deep  in  places,  shattered  and 
torn  by  bullets  and  hoofs  and  clubbed  muskets,  while  beneath 
the  layers  of  dead,  it  is  said,  there  could  be  seen  quivering 
limbs  of  those  who  still  lived. 

General  Grant  was  deeply  moved  at  the  terrible  loss  of 
life.  When  he  expressed  his  regret  for  the  heavy  sacrifice  of 
men  to  General  Meade,  the  latter  replied,  "  General,  we  can't 
do  these  little  tricks  without  heavy  losses."  The  total  loss  to 
the  Union  army  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing  at  Spotsyl- 
vania  was  nearly  eighteen  thousand.  The  Confederate  losses 
have  never  been  positively  known,  but  from  the  best  available 
sources  of  information  the  number  has  been  placed  at  not  less 
than  nine  thousand  men.  Lee's  loss  in  high  officers  was  very 


1 


THE  REDOUBT  THAT  LEE  LET  GO 


This  redoubt  covered  Taylor's  Bridge,  but  its  flanks  were  swept  by  artillery  and  an  enfilading  fire 
from  rifle-pits  across  the  river.  Late  in  the  evening  of  the  23d,  Hancock's  corps,  arriving  before  the 
redoubt,  had  assaulted  it  with  two  brigades  and  easily 'carried  it.  During  the  night  the  Confederates 
from  the  other  side  made  two  attacks  upon  the  bridge  and  finally  succeeded  in  setting  it  afire.  The 
flames  were  extinguished  by  the  Federals,  and  on  the  24th  Hancock's  troops  crossed  over  without  oppo 
sition.  The  easy  crossing  of  the  Federals  here  was  but  another  example  of  Lee's  favorite  rule  to  let  his 
antagonist  attack  him  on  the  further  side  of  a  stream.  Taylor's  Bridge  could  easily  have  been  held  by 
Lee  for  a  much  longer  time,  but  its  ready  abandonment  was  part  of  the  tactics  by  which  Grant  was  being 
led  into  a  military  dilemma.  In  the  picture  the  Federal  soldiers  confidently  hold  the  captured  redoubt, 
convinced  that  the  possession  of  it  meant  that  they  had  driven  Lee  to  his  last  corner. 


,V\ 


severe,  the  killed  including  General  Daniel  and  General  Per- 
rin,  while  Generals  Walker,  Ramseur,  R.  D.  Johnston,  and 
McGowan  were  severely  wounded.  In  addition  to  the  loss  of 
these  important  commanders,  Lee  was  further  crippled  in 
efficient  commanders  by  the  capture  of  Generals  Edward  John 
son  and  Steuart.  The  Union  loss  in  high  officers  was  light, 
excepting  General  Sedgwick  on  the  9th.  General  Webb  was 
wounded,  and  Colonel  Coon,  of  the  Second  Corps,  was  killed. 
/  Lee's  forces  had  been  handled  with  such  consummate  skill 
as  to  make  them  count  one  almost  for  two,  and  there  was  the 
spirit  of  devotion  for  Lee  among  his  soldiers  which  Vas  indeed 
practically  hero-worship.  All  in  all,  he  had  an  army,  though 
shattered  and  worn,  that  was  almost  unconquerable.  Grant 
found  that  ordinary  methods  of  war,  even  such  as  he  had  ex 
perienced  in  the  West,  were  not  applicable  to  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia.  The  only  hope  for  the  Union  army  was 
a  long-drawn-out  process,  and  with  larger  numbers,  better 
kept,  and  more  often  relieved,  Grant's  army  would  ultimately 
make  that  of  Lee's  succumb,  from  sheer  exhaustion  and  dis 
integration.) 

The  battle  was  not  terminated  on  the  12th.  During  the 
next  five  days  there  was  a  continuous  movement  of  the  Union 
corps  to  the  east  which  was  met  by  a  corresponding  readjust 
ment  of  the  Confederate  lines.  After  various  maneuvers, 
Hancock  was  ordered  to  the  point  where  the  battle  was  fought 
on  the  12th,  and  on  the  18th  and  19th,  the  last  effort  was  made 
to  break  the  lines  of  the  Confederates.  Ewell,  however,  drove 
the  Federals  back  and  the  next  day  he  had  a  severe  engage 
ment  with  the  Union  left  wing,  while  endeavoring  to  find  out 
something  of  Grant's  plans. 

Twelve  days  of  active  effort  were  thus  spent  in  skirmish 
ing,  fighting,  and  countermarching.  In  the  last  two  engage 
ments  the  Union  losses  were  nearly  two  thousand,  which  are 
included  in  those  before  stated.  It  was  decided  to  abandon  the 
attempt  to  dislodge  Lee  from  his  entrenchments,  and  to  move 


GHT,    1911,    REVIEW 


WALK  YOUR  HORSES" 


ONE  OF  THE   GRIM  JOKES  OF  WAR 


AS  PLAYED  AT 


CHESTERFIELD   BRIDGE,   NORTH  ANNA 


The  sign  posted  by  the  local  authorities  at  Taylor's  bridge,  where  the  Telegraph  Road  crosses  the  North 
Anna,  was  "Walk  your  horses."  The  wooden  structure  was  referred  to  by  the  military  as  Chesterfield 
bridge.  Here  Hancock's  Corps  arrived  toward  evening  of  May  23d,  and  the  Confederate  entrenchments, 
showing  in  the  foreground,  were  seized  by  the  old  "Berry  Brigade."  In  the  heat  of  the  charge  the  Ninety- 
third  New  York  carried  their  colors  to  the  middle  of  the  bridge,  driving  off  the  Confederates  before  they 
could  destroy  it.  When  the  Federals  began  crossing  next  day  they  had  to  run  the  gantlet  of  musketry 
and  artillery  fire  from  the  opposite  bank.  Several  regiments  of  New  York  heavy  artillery  poured  across  the 
structure  at  the  double-quick  with  the  hostile  shells  bursting  about  their  heads.  When  Captain  Sleeper's 
Eighteenth  Massachusetts  battery  began  crossing,  the  Confederate  cannoneers  redoubled  their  efforts  to 
blow  up  the  ammunition  by  well-aimed  shots.  Sleeper  passed  over  only  one  piece  at  a  time  in  order  to 
diminish  the  target  and  enforce  the  observance  of  the  local  law  by  walking  his  horses !  The  Second  Corps 
got  no  further  than  the  ridge  beyond,  where  Lee's  strong  V  formation  held  it  from  further  advance. 


,- 


to  the  North  Anna  River.  On  the  20th  of  May  the  march 
was  resumed.  The  men  had  suffered  great  hardships  from 
hunger,  exposure,  and  incessant  action,  and  many  would  fall 
asleep  on  the  line  of  march. 

On  the  day  after  the  start,  Hancock  crossed  the  Matta- 
pony  River  at  one  point  and  Warren  at  another.  Hancock 
was  ordered  to  take  position  on  the  right  bank  and,  if  prac 
ticable,  to  attack  the  Confederates  wherever  found.  By  the 
22d,  Wright  and  Burnside  came  up  and  the  march  proceeded. 
But  the  vigilant  Lee  had  again  detected  the  plans  of  his 
adversary. 

Meade's  army  had  barely  started  in  its  purpose  to  turn 
the  Confederates'  flank  when  the  Southern  forces  were  on  the 
way  to  block  the  army  of  the  North.  As  on  the  march  from 
the  Wilderness  to  Spotsylvania,  Lee's  troops  took  the  shorter 
route,  along  main  roads,  and  reached  the  North  Anna  ahead 
of  the  Federals.  Warren's  corps  was  the  first  of  Meade's 
army  to  arrive  at  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  which  it  did  on 
the  afternoon  of  May  23d.  Lee  was  already  on  the  south 
bank,  but  Warren  crossed  without  opposition.  No  sooner 
had  he  gotten  over,  however,  than  he  was  attacked  by  the  Con 
federates  and  a  severe  but  undecisive  engagement  followed. 
The  next  morning  (the  24th)  Hancock  and  Wright  put  their 
troops  across  at  places  some  miles  apart,  and  before  these  two 
wings  of  the  army  could  be  joined,  Lee  made  a  brilliant  stroke 
by  marching  in  between  them,  forming  a  wedge  whose  point 
rested  on  the  bank,  opposite  the  Union  center,  under  Burnside, 
which  had  not  yet  crossed  the  river. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  now  in  three  badly  sepa 
rated  parts.  Burnside  could  not  get  over  in  sufficient  strength 
to  reenforce  the  wings,  and  all  attempts  by  the  latter  to  aid 
him  in  so  doing  met  with  considerable  disaster.  The  loss  in 
these  engagements  approximated  two  thousand  on  each  side. 

On  the  25th,  Sheridan  and  his  cavalry  rejoined  the  army. 
They  had  been  gone  since  the  9th  and  their  raid  was  most 


{'.'• 
ffi'A 
I 

\t- 

VffcW: 


^ 


A  SANITARY-COMMISSION  NURSE  AND  HER  PATIENTS  AT  FREDERICKSBURG, 

MAY,  1864 

More  of  the  awful  toll  of  36,000  taken  from  the  Union  army  during  the  terrible  Wilderness  cam 
paign.  The  Sanitary  Commission  is  visiting  the  field  hospital  established  near  the  Rappahannock 
River,  a  mile  or  so  from  the  heights,  where  lay  at  the  same  time  the  wounded  from  these  terrific  conflicts. 
Although  the  work  of  this  Commission  was  only  supplementary  after  1862,  they  continued  to  supply  many 
delicacies,  and  luxuries  such  as  crutches,  which  did  not  form  part  of  the  regular  medical  corps  paraphernalia. 
The  effect  of  their  work  can  be  seen  here,  and  also  the  appearance  of  men  after  the  shock  of  gunshot  wounds. 
All  injuries  during  the  war  practically  fell  under  three  headings:  incised  and  punctured  wounds,  comprising 
saber  cuts,  bayonet  stabs,  and  sword  thrusts;  miscellaneous,  from  falls,  blows  from  blunt  weapons,  and 
various  accidents;  lastly,  and  chiefly,  gunshot  wounds.  The  war  came  prior  to  the  demonstration  of  the  fact 
that  the  causes  of  disease  and  suppurative  conditions  are  living  organisms  of  microscopic  size.  Septicemia, 
erysipelas,  lockjaw,  and  gangrene  were  variously  attributed  to  dampness  and  a  multitude  of  other  conditions. 


successful.  Besides  the  decisive  victory  over  the  Confederate 
cavalry  at  Yellow  Tavern,  they  had  destroyed  several  depots 
of  supplies,  four  trains  of  cars,  and  many  miles  of  railroad 
track.  Nearly  four  hundred  Federal  prisoners  on  their  way 
to  Richmond  had  been  rescued  from  their  captors.  The  dash 
ing  cavalrymen  had  even  carried  the  first  line  of  work  around 
Richmond,  and  had  made  a  detour  down  the  James  to  com 
municate  with  General  Butler.  Grant  was  highly  satisfied 
with  Sheridan's  performance.  It  had  been  of  the  greatest 
assistance  to  him,  as  it  had  drawn  off  the  whole  of  the  Con 
federate  cavalry,  and  made  the  guarding  of  the  wagon  trains 
an  easy  matter. 

But  here,  on  the  banks  of  the  North  Anna,  Grant  had 
been  completely  checkmated  by  Lee.  He  realized  this  and 
decided  on  a  new  move,  although  he  still  clung  to  his  idea  of 
turning  the  Confederate  right.  The  Federal  wings  were  with 
drawn  to  the  north  side  of  the  river  during  the  night  of  May 
26th  and  the  whole  set  in  motion  for  the  Pamunkey  River  at 
Hanovertown.  Two  divisions  of  Sheridan's  cavalry  and  War 
ren's  corps  were  in  advance.  Lee  lost  no  time  in  pursuing  his 
great  antagonist,  but  for  the  first  time  the  latter  was  able  to 
hold  his  lead.  Along  the  Totopotomoy,  on  the  afternoon  of 
May  28th,  infantry  and  cavalry  of  both  armies  met  in  a 
severe  engagement  in  which  the  strong  position  of  Lee's  troops 
again  foiled  Grant's  purpose.  The  Union  would  have  to  try 
at  some  other  point,  and  on  the  31st  Sheridan's  cavalry  took 
possession  of  Cold  Harbor.  This  was  to  be  the  next  battle 
ground. 


COPYRIGHT     1911     PATRIOT  PUB.  CO. 


A  CHANGE  OF  BASE— THE  CAVALRY  SCREEN 

This  photograph  of  May  30,  1864,  shows  the  Federal  cavalry  in  actual  operation  of  a  most  important  func 
tion — the  "screening"  of  the  army's  movements.  The  troopers  are  guarding  the  evacuation  of  Port  Royal 
on  the  Rappahannock,  May  30,  1864.  After  the  reverse  to  the  Union  arms  at  Spottsylvania,  Grant  or 
dered  the  change  of  base  from  the  Rappahannock  to  McClellan's  former  starting-point,  White  House  on 
the  Pamunkey.  The  control  of  the  waterways,  combined  with  Sheridan's  efficient  use  of  the  cavalry,  made 
this  an  easy  matter.  Torbert's  division  encountered  Gordon's  brigade  of  Confederate  cavalry  at  Hanover- 
town  and  drove  it  in  the  direction  of  Hanover  Court  House.  Gregg's  division  moved  up  to  this  line;  Rus 
sell's  division  of  infantry  encamped  near  the  river-crossing  in  support,  and  behind  the  mask  thus  formed 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  crossed  the  Pamunkey  on  May  28th  unimpeded.  Gregg  was  then  ordered  to  recon- 
noiter  towards  Mechanicsville,  and  after  a  severe  fight  at  Hawes'  shop  he  succeeded  (with  the  assistance  of 
Custer's  brigade)  in  driving  Hampton's  and  Fitzhugh  Lee's  cavalry  divisions  and  Butler's  brigade  from  the 
field.  Although  the  battle  took  place  immediately  in  front  of  the  Federal  infantry,  General  Meade  declined 
to  put  the  latter  into  action,  and  the  battle  was  won  by  the  cavalry  alone.  It  was  not  to  be  the  last  time. 


• 


COLD  HARBOR 

Cold  Harbor  is,  I  think,  the  only  battle  I  ever  fought  that  I  would  not 
fight  over  again  under  the  circumstances.  I  have  always  regretted  that 
the  last  assault  at  Cold  Harbor  was  ever  made. — General  U.  S,  Grant  in 
his  "  Memoirs. " 

A  CCORDING  to  Grant's  well-made  plans  of  march,  the 
A\.  various  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  set  out  from 
the  banks  of  the  North  Anna  on  the  night  of  May  26,  1864, 
at  the  times  and  by  the  routes  assigned  to  them.  Early  on 
the  morning  of  May  27th  Lee  set  his  force  in  motion  by  the 
Telegraph  road  and  such  others  as  were  available,  across  the 
Little  and  South  Anna  rivers  toward  Ashland  and  Atlee's 
Station  on  the  Virginia  Central  Railroad. 

Thus  the  armies  were  stretched  like  two  live  wires  along 
the  swampy  bottom-lands  of  eastern  Virginia,  and  as  they 
came  in  contact,  here  and  there  along  the  line,  there  were 
the  inevitable  sputterings  of  flame  and  considerable  destruc 
tion  wrought.  The  advance  Federal  infantry  crossed  the 
Pamunkey,  after  the  cavalry,  at  Hanoverstown,  early  on  May 
28th.  The  Second  Corps  was  close  behind  the  Sixth;  the  Fifth 
was  over  by  noon,  while  the  Ninth,  now  an  integral  portion  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  passed  the  river  by  midnight. 

On  the  31st  General  Sheridan  reached  Cold  Harbor, 
which  Meade  had  ordered  him  to  hold  at  all  hazards.  This 
place,  probably  named  after  the  old  home  of  some  English 
settler,  was  not  a  town  but  the  meeting-place  of  several  roads 
of  great  strategic  importance  to  the  Federal  army.  They  led 
not  only  toward  Richmond  by  the  way  of  the  upper  Chicka- 
hominy  bridges,  but  in  the  direction  of  White  House  Landing, 
on  the  Pamunkey  River. 

Both  Lee  and  Meade  had  received  reenforcements — the 


I 


'//I 


'/, 


/A 

Jb 


COPtRIGHT,   19)1,   PATRIOT    PUB.    CO. 


READY  FOR  THE  ADVANCE  THAT  LEE  DROVE  BACK 


Between  these  luxuriant  banks  stretch  the  pontoons  and  bridges  to  facilitate  the  rapid  crossing  of  the  North  Anna  by  Hancock's  Corps 
on  May  24th.  Thus  was  completed  the  passage  to  the  south  of  the  stream  of  the  two  wings  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  But  when 
the  center  under  Burnside  was  driven  back  and  severely  handled  at  Ox  Ford,  Grant  immediately  detached  a  brigade  each  from  Han 
cock  and  Warren  to  attack  the  apex  of  Lee's  wedge  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  but  the  position  was  too  strong  to  justify  the  at 
tempt.  Then  it  dawned  upon  the  Federal  general-in-chief  that  Lee  had  cleaved  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  into  two  separated 
bodies.  To  reenforce  either  wing  would  require  two  crossings  of  the  river,  while  Lee  could  quickly  march  troops  from  one  side  to  the 
other  within  his  impregnable  wedge.  As  Grant  put  it  in  his  report,  "  To  make  a  direct  attack  from  either  wing  would  cause  a  slaughter 
of  our  men  that  even  success  would  not  justify." 


ttark  anJt 


at  (M&  Ijarbur 


June 
1864 


v~\ 


former  by  Breckinridge,  and  the  scattered  forces  in  western 
Virginia,  and  by  Pickett  and  Hoke  from  North  Carolina. 
From  Bermuda  Hundred  where  General  Butler  was  "  bottled 
up  "  —to  use  a  phrase  which  Grant  employed  and  afterward  re 
gretted — General  W.  F.  Smith  was  ordered  to  bring  the 
Eighteenth  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  James  to  the  assistance 
of  Meade,  since  Butler  could  defend  his  position  perfectly 
well  with  a  small  force,  and  could  make  no  headway  against 
Beauregard  with  a  large  one.  Grant  had  now  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  troops  and  Lee  about  eighty 
thousand. 

Sheridan's  appearance  at  Cold  Harbor  was  resented  in 
vain  by  Fitzhugh  Lee,  and  the  next  morning,  June  1st,  the 
Sixth  Corps  arrived,  followed  by  General  Smith  and  ten 
thousand  men  of  the  Eighteenth,  who  had  hastened  from  the 
landing-place  at  White  House.  These  took  position  on  the 
right  of  the  Sixth,  and  the  Federal  line  was  promptly  faced 
by  Longstreet's  corps,  a  part  of  A.  P.  Hill's,  and  the  divisions 
of  Hoke  and  Breckinridge.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
Wright  and  Smith  advanced  to  the  attack,  which  Hoke  and 
Kershaw  received  with  courage  and  determination.  The  Con 
federate  line  was  broken  in  several  places,  but  before  night 
checked  the  struggle  the  Southerners  had  in  some  degree  re 
gained  their  position.  The  short  contest  was  a  severe  one  for 
the  Federal  side.  Wright  lost  about  twelve  hundred  men  and 
Smith  one  thousand. 

The  following  day  the  final  dispositions  were  made  for 
the  mighty  struggle  that  would  decide  Grant's  last  chance  to 
interpose  between  Lee  and  Richmond.  Hancock  and  the  Sec 
ond  Corps  arrived  at  Cold  Harbor  and  took  position  on  the 
left  of  General  Wright.  Burnside,  with  the  Ninth  Corps,  was 
placed  near  Bethesda  Church  on  the  road  to  Mechanicsville, 
while  Warren,  with  the  Fifth,  came  to  his  left  and  connected 
with  Smith's  right.  Sheridan  was  sent  to  hold  the  lower 
Chickahominy  bridges  and  to  cover  the  road  to  White  House, 


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June 
1864 


which  was  now  the  base  of  supplies.  On  the  Southern  side 
Ewell's  corps,  now  commanded  by  General  Early,  faced  Burn- 
side's  and  Warren's.  Longstreet's  corps,  still  under  Ander 
son,  was  opposite  Wright  and  Smith,  while  A.  P.  Hill,  on 
the  extreme  right,  confronted  Hancock.  There  was  sharp 
fighting  during  the  entire  day,  but  Early  did  not  succeed  in 
getting  upon  the  Federal  right  flank,  as  he  attempted  to  do. 

Both  armies  lay  very  close  to  each  other  and  were  well 
entrenched.  Lee  was  naturally  strong  on  his  right,  and  his 
left  was  difficult  of  access,  since  it  must  be  approached  through 
wooded  swamps.  Well-placed  batteries  made  artillery  fire 
from  front  and  both  flanks  possible,  but  Grant  decided  to 
attack  the  whole  Confederate  front,  and  word  was  sent  to  the 
corps  commanders  to  assault  at  half -past  four  the  following 
morning. 

The  hot  sultry  weather  of  the  preceding  days  had  brought 
much  suffering.  The  movement  of  troops  and  wagons  raised 
clouds  of  dust  which  settled  down  upon  the  sweltering  men 
and  beasts.  But  five  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  June  2d 
brought  the  grateful  rain,  and  this  continued  during  the  night, 
giving  great  relief  to  the  exhausted  troops. 

( At  the  hour  designated  the  Federal  lines  moved  promptly 
from  their  shallow  rifle-pits  toward  the  Confederate  works. 
The  main  assault  was  made  by  the  Second,  Sixth,  and  Eigh 
teenth  corps.  With  determined  and  firm  step  they  started  to 
cross  the  space  between  the  opposing  entrenchments.  The 
silence  of  the  dawning  summer  morning  was  broken  by  the 
screams  of  musket-ball  and  canister  and  shell.  That  move  of 
the  Federal  battle-line  opened  the  fiery  furnace  across  the 
intervening  space,  which  was,  in  the  next  instant,  a  Vesuvius, 
pouring  tons  and  tons  of  steel  and  lead  into  the  moving 
human  mass.  From  front,  from  right  and  left,  artillery 
crashed  and  swept  the  field,  musketry  and  grape  hewed  and 
mangled  and  mowed  down  the  line  of  blue  as  it  moved  on  its 
approach. 


COLD  HARBOR 

The  battle  of  Cold  Harbor  on  June  3d  was  the 
third  tremendous  engagement  of  Grant's 
campaign  against  Richmond  within  a  month. 
It  was  also  his  costliest  onset  on  Lee's  veteran 
army.  Grant  had  risked  much  in  his  change  of 
base  to  the  James  in  order  to  bring  him  nearer 
to  Richmond  and  to  the  friendly  hand  which 
Butler  with  the  Army  of  the  James  was  in  a 
position  to  reach  out  to  him.  Lee  had  again 
confronted  him,  entrenching  himself  but  six 
miles  from  the  outworks  of  Richmond,  while 
the  Chickahominy  cut  off  any  further  flanking 
movement.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but 
fight  it  out,  and  Grant  ordered  an  attack  all 
along  the  line.  On  June  3d  he  hurled  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  against  the  inferior 
numbers  of  Lee,  and  in  a  brave  assault  upon 
the  Confederate  entrenchments,  lost  ten 
thousand  men  in  twenty  minutes. 
Grant's  assault  at  Cold  Harbor  was  marked  by 
the  gallantry  of  General  Hancock's  division 
and  of  the  brigades  of  Gibbon  and  Barlow,  who 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    PATRIOT    PUB.    CO. 

WHERE  TEN  THOUSAND   FELL 


on  the  left  of  the  Federal  line  charged  up  the 
ascent  in  their  front  upon  the  concentrated 
artillery  of  the  Confederates;  they  took  the 
position  and  held  it  for  a  moment  under  a 
galling  fire,  which  finally  drove  them  back,  but 
not  until  they  had  captured  a  flag  and  three 
hundred  prisoners.  The  battle  was  substan 
tially  over  by  half -past  seven  in  the  morning, 
but  sullen  fighting  continued  throughout  the 
day.  About  noontime  General  Grant,  who  had 
visited  all  the  corps  commanders  to  see  for 
himself  the  positions  gained  and  what  could  be 
done,  concluded  that  the  Confederates  were  too 
strongly  entrenched  to  be  dislodged  and  ordered 
that  further  offensive  action  should  cease.  All 
the  next  day  the  dead  and  wounded  lay  on  the 
field  uncared  for  while  both  armies  warily 
watched  each  other.  The  lower  picture  was 
taken  during  this  weary  wait.  Not  till  the 
7th  was  a  satisfactory  truce  arranged,  and 
then  all  but  two  of  the  wounded  Federals  had 
died.  No  wonder  that  Grant  wrote,  "I  have 
always  regretted  that  the  last  assault  at  Cold 
Harbor  was  ever  made." 


FEDERAL   CAMP  AT  COLD  HARBOR  AFTER  THE  BATTLE 


THE  BUSIEST  PLACE  IN  DIXIE 


City  Point,  just  after  its  capture  by  Butler.  From  June,  1864,  until  April,  1865,  City  Point,  at  the 
juncture  of  the  Appomattox  and  the  James,  was  a  point  of  entry  and  departure  for  more  vessels  than 
any  city  of  the  South  including  even  New  Orleans  in  times  of  peace.  Here  landed  supplies  that  kept 
an  army  numbering,  with  fighting  force  and  supernumeraries,  nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
well-supplied,  well-fed,  wTell-contented,  and  well-munitioned  men  in  the  field.  This  was  the  marvelous  base 
— safe  from  attack,  secure  from  molestation.  It  was  meals  and  money  that  won  at  Petersburg,  the  bravery 
of  full  stomachs  and  warm-clothed  bodies  against  the  desperation  of  starved  and  shivering  out-numbered 
men.  A  glance  at  this  picture  tells  the  story.  There  is  no  need  of  rehearsing  charges,  counter-charges, 
mines,  and  counter-mines.  Here  lies  the  reason — Petersburg  had  to  fall.  As  we  look  back  with  a  retro 
spective  eye  on  this  scene  of  plenty  and  abundance,  well  may  the  American  heart  be  proud  that  only  a  few 
miles  away  were  men  of  their  own  blood  enduring  the  hardships  that  the  defenders  of  Petersburg  suffered  in 
the  last  campaign  of  starvation  against  numbers  and  plenty. 


&    •'*•»  •  -   •••••• 

'•"         -f^SL> 

^;-:V'-'^- .  ;••*- 


!*1'^-"^   '*"" 


fit 
•  i 
MI 


THE  FORCES  AT  LAST  JOIN  HANDS 


Charles  City  Court  House  on  the  James  River,  June  14,  1864.  It  was  with  infinite  relief  that  Grant  saw  the  advance  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  reach  this  point  on  June  14th.  His  last  flanking  movement  was  an  extremely  hazardous  one.  More  than  fifty  miles 
intervened  between  him  and  Butler  by  the  roads  he  would  have  to  travel,  and  he  had  to  cross  both  the  Chickahominy  and  the  James, 
which  were  unbridged.  The  paramount  difficulty  was  to  get  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  out  of  its  position  before  Lee,  who  confronted 
it  at  Cold  Harbor.  Lee  had  the  shorter  line  and  better  roads  to  move  over  and  meet  Grant  at  the  Chickahominy,  or  he  might,  if  he 
ehose,  descend  rapidly  on  Butler  and  crush  him  before  Grant  could  unite  with  him.  "But,"  says  Grant,  "the  move  had  to  be  made, 
and  I  relied  upon  Lee's  not  seeing  my  danger  as  I  saw  it."  Near  the  old  Charles  City  Court  House  the  crossing  of  the  James  was 
successfully  accomplished,  and  on  the  14th  Grant  took  steamer  and  ran  up  the  river  to  Bermuda  Hundred  to  see  General  Butler  and 
direct  the  movement  against  Petersburg,  that  began  the  final  investment  of  that  city. 


ttark 


at 


ijarlmr 


June 
1864 


V 


Meade  issued  orders  for  the  suspension  of  all  further  offensive 
operations. 

A  word  remains  to  be  said  as  to  fortunes  of  Burnside's 
and  Warren's  forces,  which  were  on  the  Federal  right.  Gen 
erals  Potter  and  Willcox  of  the  Ninth  Corps  made  a  quick 
capture  of  Early's  advanced  rifle-pits  and  were  waiting  for 
the  order  to  advance  on  his  main  entrenchments,  when  the 
order  of  suspension  arrived.  Early  fell  upon  him  later  in  the 
day  but  was  repulsed.  Warren,  on  the  left  of  Burnside,  drove 
Rodes'  division  back  and  repulsed  Gordon's  brigade,  which  had 
attacked  him.  The  commander  of  the  Fifth  Corps  reported 
that  his  line  was  too  extended  for  further  operations  and  Bir- 
ney's  division  was  sent  from  the  Second  Corps  to  his  left.  But 
by  the  time  this  got  into  position  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor 
was  practically  over. 

The  losses  to  the  Federal  army  in  this  battle  and  the 
engagements  which  preceded  it  were  over  seventeen  thousand, 
while  the  Confederate  loss  did  not  exceed  one-fifth  of  that 
number.  Grant  had  failed  in  his  plan  to  destroy  Lee  north 
of  the  James  River,  and  saw  that  he  must  now  cross  it. 

Thirty  days  had  passed  in  the  campaign  since  the  Wil 
derness  and  the  grand  total  in  losses  to  Grant's  army  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing  was  54,929.  The  losses  in  Lee's  army 
were  never  accurately  given,  but  they  were  very  much  less  in 
proportion  to  the  numerical  strength  of  the  two  armies.  If 
Grant  had  inflicted  punishment  upon  his  foe  equal  to  that 
suffered  by  the  Federal  forces,  Lee's  army  would  have  been 
practically  annihilated. 

The  Federal  general-in-chief  had  decided  to  secure  Peters 
burg  and  confront  Lee  once  more.  General  Gillmore  was  sent 
by  Butler,  with  cavalry  and  infantry,  on  June  10th  to  make 
the  capture,  but  was  unsuccessful.  Thereupon  General  Smith 
and  the  Eighteenth  Corps  were  despatched  to  White  House 
Landing  to  go  forward  by  water  and  reach  Petersburg  before 
Lee  had  time  to  reenforce  it. 


^ 


7///fft 


ft 
7 
/' 


w. 


[Part  XII] 


THE    MONITOR    IN    A    STORM. 


Copyright,  i()or,  by  Perrien-Kcydel  Co. , 
Detroit,  Mich.,  U.  S.  A. 


TO  ATLANTA 

Johnston  was  an  officer  who,  by  the  common  consent  of  the  military 
men  of  both  sides,  was  reckoned  second  only  to  Lee,  if  second,  in  the 
qualities  which  fit  an  officer  for  the  responsibility  of  great  commands.  .  .  . 
He  practised  a  lynx-eyed  watchfulness  of  his  adversary,  tempting  him  con 
stantly  to  assault  his  entrenchments,  holding  his  fortified  positions  to  the 
last  moment,  but  choosing  that  last  moment  so  well  as  to  save  nearly  every 
gun  and  wagon  in  the  final  withdrawal,  and  always  presenting  a  front 
covered  by  such  defenses  that  one  man  in  the  line  was,  by  all  sound  mili 
tary  rules,  equal  to  three  or  four  in  the  attack.  In  this  way  he  constantly 
neutralized  the  superiority  of  force  his  opponent  wielded,  and  made  his 
campaign  from  Dalton  to  the  Chattahoochee  a  model  of  defensive  warfare. 
It  is  Sherman's  glory  that,  with  a  totally  different  temperament,  he  ac 
cepted  his  adversary's  game,  and  played  it  with  a  skill  that  was  finally 
successful,  as  we  shall  see. — Major-General  Jacob  D.  Cox,  U.S.V.,  in 
"Atlanta," 

THE  two  leading  Federal  generals  of  the  war,  Grant  and 
Sherman,  met  at  Xashville,  Tennessee,  on  March  17, 
1864,  and  arranged  for  a  great  concerted  double  movement 
against  the  two  main  Southern  armies,  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  and  the  Army  of  Tennessee.  Grant,  who  had  been 
made  commander  of  all  the  Federal  armies,  was  to  take  per 
sonal  charge  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  move  against 
Lee,  while  to  Sherman,  whom,  at  Grant's  request,  President 
Lincoln  had  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Military  Division  of 
the  Mississippi,  he  turned  over  the  Western  army,  which  was 
to  proceed  against  Johnston. 

It  was  decided,  moreover,  that  the  two  movements  were 
to  be  simultaneous  and  that  they  were  to  begin  early  in  May. 
Sherman  concentrated  his  forces  around  Chattanooga  on  the 
Tennessee  River,  where  the  Armv  of  the  Cumberland  had 


c 


0  Atlanta 


30Ijtt0t0n 


•*• 


May 

1864 


spent  the  winter,  and  where  a  decisive  battle  had  been  fought 
some  months  before,  in  the  autumn  of  1863.  His  army  was 
composed  of  three  parts,  or,  more  properly,  of  three  armies 
operating  in  concert.  These  were  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  led  by  General  James  B.  McPherson;  the  Army  of 
Ohio,  under  General  John  M.  Schofield,  and  the  Army  of 
the  Cumberland,  commanded  by  General  George  H.  Thomas. 
The  last  named  was  much  larger  than  the  other  two  combined. 
The  triple  army  aggregated  the  grand  total  of  ninety-nine 
thousand  men,  six  thousand  of  whom  were  cavalrymen,  while 
four  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty  belonged  to  the  artil 
lery.  There  were  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  heavy  guns. 

Soon  to  be  pitted  against  Sherman's  army  was  that  of 
General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  which  had  spent  the  winter  at 
Dalton,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  some  thirty  miles  southeast 
of  Chattanooga.  It  was  by  chance  that  Dalton  became  the 
winter  quarters  of  the  Confederate  army.  In  the  preceding 
autumn,  when  General  Bragg  had  been  defeated  on  Mission 
ary  Ridge  and  driven  from  the  vicinity  of  Chattanooga,  he 
retreated  to  Dalton  and  stopped  for  a  night's  rest.  Discov 
ering  the  next  morning  that  he  wras  not  pursued,  he  there 
remained.  Some  time  later  he  was  superseded  by  General 
Johnston. 

By  telegraph,  General  Sherman  was  apprised  of  the  time 
when  Grant  was  to  move  upon  Lee  on  the  banks  of  the  Rapi- 
dan,  in  Virginia,  and  he  prepared  to  move  his  own  army  at 
the  same  time.  But  he  was  two  days  behind  Grant,  who  began 
his  Virginia  campaign  on  May  4th.  Sherman  broke  camp  on 
the  6th  and  led-  his  legions  across  hill  and  valley,  forest  and 
stream,  toward  the  Confederate  stronghold.  Nature  was  all 
abloom  with  the  opening  of  a  Southern  spring  and  the  sol 
diers,  who  had  long  chafed  under  their  enforced  idleness,  now 
rejoiced  at  the  exhilarating  journey  before  them,  though  their 
mission  was  to  be  one  of  strife  and  bloodshed. 

Johnston's   army   numbered  about   fifty-three  thousand, 


REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


SHERMAN  IX  1865 
If  Sherman  was  deemed  merciless  in  war,  he  was  superbly  generous  when  the  fighting 
was  over.  To  Joseph  E.  Johnston  he  offered  most  liberal  terms  of  surrender  foi  the 
Southern  armies.  Their  acceptance  would  have  gone  far  to  prevent  the  worst  of  the 
reconstruction  enormities.  Unfortunately  his  first  convention  with  Johnston  was 
disapproved.  The  death  of  Lincoln  had  removed  the  guiding  hand  that  would  have 
meant  so  much  to  the  nation.  To  those  who  have  read  his  published  correspondence 
and  his  memoirs  Sherman  appears  in  a  very  human  light.  He  was  fluent  and  fre 
quently  reckless  in  speech  and  writing,  but  his  kindly  humanity  is  seen  in  both. 


1 

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an  USL  301jn0t0n      4 

>     *      i 

May 
1864 


and  was  divided  into  two  corps,  under  the  respective  com 
mands  of  Generals  John  B.  Hood  and  William  J.  Hardee. 
But  General  Polk  was  on  his  way  to  join  them,  and  in  a  few 
days  Johnston  had  in  the  neighborhood  of  seventy  thousand 
men.  His  position  at  Dalton  was  too  strong  to  be  carried 
by  a  front  attack,  and  Sherman  was  too  wise  to  attempt  it. 
Leaving  Thomas  and  Schofield  to  make  a  feint  at  Johnston's 
front,  Sherman  sent  McPherson  on  a  flanking  movement  by 
the  right  to  occupy  Snake  Creek  Gap,  a  mountain  pass  near 
Resaca,  which  is  about  eighteen  miles  below  Dalton. 

Sherman,  with  the  main  part  of  the  army,  soon  occupied 
Tunnel  Hill,  which  faces  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  an  eastern  range 
of  the  Cumberland  Mountains,  north  of  Dalton,  on  which  a 
large  part  of  Johnston's  army  was  posted.  The  Federal 
leader  had  little  or  no  hope  of  dislodging  his  great  antagonist 
from  this  impregnable  position,  fortified  by  rocks  and  cliffs 
which  no  army  could  scale  while  under  fire.  But  he  ordered 
that  demonstrations  be  made  at  several  places,  especially  at  a 
pass  knowrn  as  Rocky  Face  Gap.  This  wras  done  with  great 
spirit  and  bravery,  the  men  clambering  over  rocks  and  across 
ravines  in  the  face  of  showers  of  bullets  and  even  of  masses 
of  stone  hurled  down  from  the  heights  above  them.  On  the 
whole  they  won  but  little  advantage. 

During  the  8th  and  9th  of  May,  these  operations  were 
continued,  the  Federals  making  but  little  impression  on  the 
Confederate  stronghold.  Meanwhile,  on  the  Dalton  road  there 
was  a  sharp  cavalry  fight,  the  Federal  commander,  General 
E.  M.  McCook,  having  encountered  General  Wheeler.  Mc- 
Cook's  advance  brigade  under  Colonel  La  Grange  was  de 
feated  and  La  Grange  was  made  prisoner. 

Sherman's  chief  object  in  these  demonstrations,  it  will  be 
seen,  was  so  to  engage  Johnston  as  to  prevent  his  intercept 
ing  McPherson  in  the  latter's  movement  upon  Resaca.  In 
this  Sherman  was  successful,  and  by  the  llth  he  was  giving 
his  whole  energy  to  moving  the  remainder  of  his  forces  by  the 


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right  flank,  as  McPherson  had  done,  to  Resaca,  leaving  a 
detachment  of  General  O.  O.  Howard's  Fourth  Corps  to 
occupy  Dalton  when  evacuated.  When  Johnston  discovered 
this,  he  was  quick  to  see  that  he  must  abandon  his  entrench 
ments  and  intercept  Sherman.  Moving  by  the  only  two  good 
roads,  Johnston  beat  Sherman  in  the  race  to  Resaca.  The 
town  had  been  fortified,  owing  to  Johnston's  foresight,  and 
McPherson  had  failed  to  dislodge  the  garrison  and  capture  it. 
The  Confederate  army  was  now  settled  behind  its  entrench 
ments,  occupying  a  semicircle  of  low  wooded  hills,  both  flanks 
of  the  army  resting  on  the  banks  of  the  Oostenaula  River. 

On  the  morning  of  May  14th,  the  Confederate  works 
were  invested  by  the  greater  part  of  Sherman's  army  and  it 
was  evident  that  a  battle  was  imminent.  The  attack  was 
begun  about  noon,  chiefly  by  the  Fourteenth  Army  Corps  un 
der  Palmer,  of  Thomas'  army,  and  Judah's  division  of  Scho- 
field's.  General  Hindman's  division  of  Hood's  corps  bore 
the  brunt  of  this  attack  and  there  was  heavy  loss  on  both  sides. 
Later  in  the  day,  a  portion  of  Hood's  corps  was  massed  in  a 
heavy  column  and  hurled  against  the  Federal  left,  driving  it 
back.  But  at  this  point  the  Twentieth  Army  Corps  under 
Hooker,  of  Thomas'  army,  dashed  against  the  advancing 
Confederates  and  pushed  them  back  to  their  former  lines. 

The  forenoon  of  the  next  day  was  spent  in  heavy  skir 
mishing,  which  grew  to  the  dignity  of  a  battle.  During  the 
day's  operations  a  hard  fight  for  a  Confederate  lunette  on  the 
top  of  a  low  hill  occurred.  At  length,  General  Butterfield, 
in  the  face  of  a  galling  fire,  succeeded  in  capturing  the  posi 
tion.  But  so  deadly  wras  the  fire  from  Hardee's  corps  that 
Butterfield  was  unable  to  hold  it  or  to  remove  the  four  guns 
the  lunette  contained. 

With  the  coming  of  night,  General  Johnston  determined 
to  withdraw  his  army  from  Resaca.  The  battle  had  cost  each 
army  nearly  three  thousand  men.  While  it  was  in  progress, 
McPherson,  sent  by  Sherman,  had  deftly  marched  around 


IN  THE  FOREFRONT— GENERAL  RICHARD  W.  JOHNSON  AT  GRAYSVILLE 


On  the  balcony  of  this  little  cottage  at  Graysville,  Georgia,  stands  General  Richard  W.  Johnson,  ready  to  advance  with  his  cavalry  division 
in  the  vanguard  of  the  direct  movement  upon  the  Confederates  strongly  posted  at  Dalton.  Sherman's  cavalry  forces  under  Stone- 
man  and  Garrard  were  not  yet  fully  equipped  and  joined  the  army  after  the  campaign  had  opened.  General  Richard  W.  Johnson's 
division  of  Thomas'  command,  with  General  Palmer's  division,  was  given  the  honor  of  heading  the  line  of  march  when  the  Federals 
got  in  motion  on  May  5th.  The  same  troops  (Palmer's  division)  had  made  the  same  march  in  February,  sent  by  Grant  to  engage 
Johnston  at  Dalton  during  Sherman's  Meridian  campaign.  Johnson  was  a  West  Pointer;  he  had  gained  his  cavalry  training  in  the 
Mexican  War,  and  had  fought  the  Indians  on  the  Texas  border.  He  distinguished  himself  at  Corinth,  and  rapidly  rose  to  the  com 
mand  of  a  division  in  Buell's  army.  Fresh  from  a  Confederate  prison,  he  joined  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  in  the  summer  of  1862 
to  win  new  laurels  at  Stone's  River,  Chickamauga,  and  Missionary  Ridge.  His  sabers  were  conspicuously  active  in  the  Atlanta  cam 
paign;  and  at  the  battle  of  New  Hope  Church  on  May  28th  Johnson  himself  was  wounded,  but  recovered  in  time  to  join  Sehofield 
after  the  fall  of  Atlanta  and  to  assist  him  in  driving  Hood  and  Forrest  out  of  Tennessee.  For  his  bravery  at  the  battle  of  Nashville 
he  was  brevetted  brigadier-general,  U.  S.  A.,  December  16,  1864,  and  after  the  war  he  was  retired  with  the  brevet  of  major-general. 


mttatt 


* 


Johnston's  left  with  the  view  of  cutting  off  his  retreat  south 
by  seizing  the  bridges  across  the  Oostenaula,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  Federal  cavalry  was  threatening  the  railroad  to 
Atlanta  which  ran  beyond  the  river.  It  was  the  knowledge 
of  these  facts  that  determined  the  Confederate  commander  to 
abandon  Resaca.  Withdrawing  during  the  night,  he  led  his 
army  southward  to  the  banks  of  the  Etowah  River.  Sherman 
followed  but  a  few  miles  behind  him.  At  the  same  time  Sher 
man  sent  a  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  under 
General  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  to  Rome,  at  the  junction  of  the 
Etowah  and  the  Oostenaula,  where  there  Avere  important 
machine-shops  and  factories.  Davis  captured  the  town  and 
several  heavy  guns,  destroyed  the  factories,  and  left  a  garri 
son  to  hold  it. 

Sherman  was  eager  for  a  battle  in  the  open  with  Johnston 
and  on  the  17th,  near  the  town  of  Adairsville,  it  seemed  as  if 
the  latter  would  gratify  him.  Johnston  chose  a  good  position, 
posted  his  cavalry,  deployed  his  infantry,  and  awaited  combat. 
The  Union  army  was  at  hand.  The  skirmishing  for  some 
hours  almost  amounted  to  a  battle.  But  suddenly  Johnston 
decided  to  defer  a  conclusive  contest  to  another  time. 

Again  at  Cassville,  a  few  days  later,  Johnston  drew  up 
the  Confederate  legions  in  battle  array,  evidently  having  de 
cided  on  a  general  engagement  at  this  point.  He  issued  a 
spirited  address  to  the  army:  "  By  your  courage  and  skill  you 
have  repulsed  every  assault  of  the  enemy.  .  .  .  You  will  now 
turn  and  march  to  meet  his  advancing  columns.  ...  I  lead 
you  to  battle."  But,  when  his  right  flank  had  been  turned 
by  a  Federal  attack,  and  when  two  of  his  corps  commanders, 
Hood  and  Polk,  advised  against  a  general  battle,  Johnston 
again  decided  on  postponement.  He  retreated  in  the  night 
across  the  Etowah,  destroyed  the  bridges,  and  took  a  strong 
position  among  the  rugged  hills  about  Allatoona  Pass,  extend 
ing  south  to  Kenesaw  Mountain. 

Johnston's  decision  to  fight  and  then  not  to  fight  was  a 


Mav 
1864 


(L_ 


ITS 


RESACA— FIELD   OF  THE   FIRST  HEAVY  FIGHTING 

The  chips  are  still  bright  and  the  earth  fresh  turned,  in  the  foreground  where  are  the  Confederate  earthworks  such  a^  General  Joseph 
E.  Johnston  had  caused  to  be  thrown  up  by  the  Negro  laborers  all  along  his  line  of  possible  retreat.  McPherson,  sent  by  Sherman  to 
strike  the  railroad  in  Johnston's  rear,  got  his  head  of  column  through  Snake  Creek  Gap  on  May  9th,  and  drove  off  a  Confederate 
cavalry  brigade  which  retreated  toward  Dalton,  bringing  to  Johnston  the  first  news  that  a  heavy  force  of  Federals  was  already  in  his 
rear.  McPherson,  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  Resaca,  could  have  walked  into  the  town  with  his  twenty-three  thousand  men,  but 
concluded  that  the  Confederate  entrenchments  were  too  strongly  held  to  assault.  When  Sherman  arrived  he  found  that  Johnston, 
having  the  shorter  route,  was  there  ahead  of  him  with  his  entire  army  strongly  posted.  On  May  15th,  "without  attempting  to  as 
sault  the  fortified  works,"  says  Sherman,  "we  pressed  at  all  points,  and  the  sound  of  cannon  and  musketry  rose  all  day  to  the  dignity 
of  a  battle."  Its  havoc  is  seen  in  the  shattered  trees  and  torn  ground  in  the  lower  picture. 


EVIEW   OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  WORK  OF  THE   FIRING   AT  RESACA 


r~        IT 

€1  rr    ^t'rntt't       t^)hi 

i 

Tmun  u0.  30t}n0t0n      ^      * 

f" 

1       May 
]864 

/  ii  -rVUuuUl      ^ij* 

cause  for  grumbling  both  on  the  part  of  his  army  and  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  region  through  which  he  was  passing.  His 
men  were  eager  to  defend  their  country,  and  they  could  not 
understand  this  Fabian  policy.  They  would  have  preferred 
defeat  to  these  repeated  retreats  with  no  opportunity  to  show 
what  they  could  do. 

Johnston,  however,  was  wiser  than  his  critics.  The  Union 
army  was  larger  by  far  and  better  equipped  than  his  own, 
and  Sherman  was  a  master-strategist.  His  hopes  rested  on 
two  or  three  contingencies — that  he  might  catch  a  portion  of 
Sherman's  army  separated  from  the  rest;  that  Sherman  would 
be  so  weakened  by  the  necessity  of  guarding  the  long  line  of 
railroad  to  his  base  of  supplies  at  Chattanooga,  Nashville, 
and  even  far-away  Louisville,  as  to  make  it  possible  to  defeat 
him  in  open  battle,  or,  finally,  that  Sherman  might  fall  into 
the  trap  of  making  a  direct  attack  while  Johnston  was  in  an 
impregnable  position,  and  in  such  a  situation  he  now  was. 

Not  yet,  however,  was  Sherman  inclined  to  fall  into  such 
a  trap,  and  when  Johnston  took  his  strong  position  at  and 
beyond  Allatoona  Pass,  the  Northern  commander  decided, 
after  resting  his  army  for  a  few  days,  to  move  toward  At 
lanta  by  way  of  Dallas,  southwest  of  the  pass.  Rations  for 
a  twenty  days'  absence  from  direct  railroad  communication 
were  issued  to  the  Federal  army.  In  fact,  Sherman's  rail 
road  connection  with  the  North  was  the  one  delicate  problem 
of  the  whole  movement.  The  Confederates  had  destroyed  the 
iron  way  as  they  moved  southward;  but  the  Federal  engi 
neers,  following  the  army,  repaired  the  line  and  rebuilt  the 
bridges  almost  as  fast  as  the  army  could  march. 

Sherman's  movement  toward  Dallas  drew  Johnston  from 
the  slopes  of  the  Allatoona  Hills.  From  Kingston,  the  Fed 
eral  leader  wrote  on  May  23d,  "  I  am  already  within  fifty  miles 
of  Atlanta."  But  he  was  not  to  enter  that  city  for  many 
weeks,  not  before  he  had  measured  swords  again  and  again 
with  his  great  antagonist.  On  the  25th  of  May,  the  two  great 


ANOTHER  RETROGRADE   MOVEMENT  OVER  THE   ETOWAH   BRIDGE 


The  strong  works  in  the  pictures,  commanding  the  railroad  bridge 
over  the  Etowah  River,  were  the  fourth  fortified  position  to  be 
abandoned  by  Johnston  within  a  month.  Pursued  by  Thomas 
from  Resaca,  he  had  made  a  brief  stand  at  Kingston  and  then 
fallen  back  steadily  and  in  superb  order  into  Cassville.  There 
he  issued  an  address  to  his  army  announcing  his  purpose  to 
retreat  no  more  but  to  accept  battle.  His  troops  were  all  drawn 
up  in  preparation  for  a  struggle,  but  that  night  at  supper  with 
Generals  Hood  and  Polk 
he  was  convinced  by  them 
that  the  ground  occupied 
by  their  troops  was  unten 
able,  being  enfiladed  by  the 
Federal  artillery.  Johnston, 
therefore,  gave  up  his  pur 
pose  of  battle,  and  on  the 
night  of  May  20th  put  the 
Etowah  River  between  him 
self  and  Sherman  and  re 
treated  to  Allatoona  Pass, 
shown  in  the  lower  picture. 


In  taking  this  the  camera  was  planted  inside  the  breastworks 
seen  on  the  eminence  in  the  upper  picture.  Sherman's  army  now 
rested  after  its  rapid  advance  and  waited  a  few  days  for  the  rail 
road  to  be  repaired  in  their  rear  so  that  supplies  could  be  brought 
up.  Meanwhile  Johnston  was  being  severely  criticized  at  the 
South  for  his  continual  falling  back  without  risking  a  battle.  His 
friends  stoutly  maintained  that  it  was  all  strategic,  while  some  of 
the  Southern  newspapers  quoted  the  Federal  General  Scott's 

remark,  "Beware  of  Lee 
advancing,  and  watch  John 
ston  at  a  stand;  for  the 
devil  himself  would  be  de 
feated  in  the  attempt  to 
whip  him  retreating."  But 
General  Jeff  C.  Davis,  sent 
by  Sherman,  took  Rome  on 
May  17th  and  destroyed 
valuable  mills  and  foundries. 
Thus  began  the  accomplish 
ment  of  one  of  the  main 
objects  of  Sherman's  march. 


ALLATOONA   PASS   IN  THE  DISTANCE 


na  Atlanta— 


ua.  30Ijn0t0n      4* 


May 
1864 


armies  were  facing  each  other  near  New  Hope  Church,  about 
four  miles  north  of  Dallas.  Here,  for  three  or  four  days, 
there  was  almost  incessant  fighting,  though  there  was  not  what 
might  be  called  a  pitched  battle. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  first  day,  Hooker  made  a 
vicious  attack  on  Stewart's  division  of  Hood's  corps.  For 
two  hours  the  battle  raged  without  a  moment's  cessation, 
Hooker  being  pressed  back  with  heavy  loss.  During  those 
two  hours  he  had  held  his  ground  against  sixteen  field-pieces 
and  five  thousand  infantry  at  close  range.  The  name  "  Hell 
Hole  "  was  applied  to  this  spot  by  the  Union  soldiers. 

On  the  next  day  there  was  considerable  skirmishing  in 
different  places  along  the  line  that  divided  the  two  armies. 
But  the  chief  labor  of  the  day  was  throwing  up  entrench 
ments,  preparatory  to  a  general  engagement.  The  country, 
however,  was  ill  fitted  for  such  a  contest.  The  continuous 
succession  of  hills,  covered  with  primeval  forests,  presented 
little  opportunity  for  two  great  armies,  stretched  out  almost 
from  Dallas  to  Marietta,  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles,  to  come 
together  simultaneously  at  all  points. 

A  severe  contest  occurred  on  the  27th,  near  the  center  of 
the  battle-lines,  between  General  O.  O.  Howard  on  the  Federal 
side  and  General  Patrick  Cleburne  on  the  part  of  the  South. 
Dense  and  almost  impenetrable  was  the  undergrowth  through 
which  Howard  led  his  troops  to  make  the  attack.  The  fight 
was  at  close  range  and  was  fierce  and  bloody,  the  Confeder 
ates  gaining  the  greater  advantage. 

The  next  day  Johnston  made  a  terrific  attack  on  the 
Union  right,  under  McPherson,  near  Dallas.  But  McPher- 
son  was  well  entrenched  and  the  Confederates  were  repulsed 
with  a  serious  loss.  In  the  three  or  four  days'  fighting  the 
Federal  loss  was  probably  twenty-four  hundred  men  and  the 
Confederate  somewhat  greater. 

In  the  early  days  of  June,  Sherman  took  possession  of 
the  town  of  Allatoona  and  made  it  a  second  base  of  supplies, 


PINE   MOUNTAIN,  WHERE   POLK,  THE   FIGHTING   BISHOP  OF  THE   CONFEDERACY,   WAS   KILLED 


The  blasted  pine  rears  its  gaunt  height  above  the  mountain  slope, 
covered  with  trees  slashed  down  to  hold  the  Federals  at  bay;  and 
here,  on  June  14,  1864,  the  Confederacy  lost  a  commander,  a 
bishop,  and  a  hero.  Lieut.-General  Leonidas  Polk,  commanding 
one  of  Johnston's  army  corps,  with  Johnston  himself  and  Hardee, 
another  corps  commander,  was  studying  Sherman's  position  at  a 
tense  moment  of  the  latter's  advance  around  Pine  Mountain. 
The  three  Confederates  stood  upon  the  rolling  height,  where  the 
center  of  Johnston's  army  awaited  the 
Federal  attack.  They  could  see  the 
columns  in  blue  pushing  east  of  them; 
the  smoke  and  rattle  of  musketry  as  the 
pickets  were  driven  in;  and  the  bustle 
with  which  the  Federal  advance  guard 
felled  trees  and  constructed  trenches  at 
their  very  feet.  On  the  lonely  height  the 
three  figures  stood  conspicuous.  A  Fed 
eral  order  was  given  the  artillery  to 
open  upon  any  men  in  gray  who  looked 
like  officers  reconnoitering  the  new  posi 
tion.  So,  while  Hardee  was  pointing  to 
his  comrade  and  his  chief  the  danger  of 
one  of  his  divisions  which  the  Federal 
advance  was  cutting  off,  the  bishop- 
general  was  struck  in  the  chest  by  a 
cannon  shot.  Thus  the  Confederacy  lost 
a  leader  of  unusual  influence.  Although 


a  bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  Polk  was  educated  at 
W'est  Point.  When  he  threw  in  his  lot  with  the  Confederacy, 
thousands  of  his  fellow-Louisianians  followed  him.  A  few  days 
before  the  battle  of  Pine  Mountain,  as  he  and  General  Hood 
were  riding  together,  the  bishop  was  told  by  his  companion 
that  he  had  never  been  received  into  the  communion  of  a  church 
and  was  begged  that  the  rite  might  be  performed.  Immediately 
Polk  arranged  the  ceremony.  At  Hood's  headquarters,  by  the 
light  of  a  tallow  candle,  with  a  tin  basin 
on  the  mess  table  for  a  baptismal  font, 
and  with  Hood's  staff  present  as  wit 
nesses,  all  was  ready.  Hood,  "with  a 
face  like  that  of  an  old  crusader,"  stood 
before  the  bishop.  Crippled  by  wounds 
at  Games'  Mill,  Gettysburg,  and  Chicka- 
mauga,  he  could  not  kneel,  but  bent 
forward  on  his  crutches.  The  bishop,  in 
full  uniform  of  the  Confederate  army, 
administered  the  rite.  A  few  days  later, 
by  a  strange  coincidence,  he  was  ap 
proached  by  General  Johnston  on 
the  same  errand,  and  the  man  whom 
Hood  was  soon  to  succeed  was  baptized 
in  the  same  simple  manner.  Polk,  as 
Bishop,  had  administered  his  last  bap 
tism,  and  as  soldier  had  fought  his  last 
battle;  for  Pine  Mountain  was  near. 


LIEUT.-GEN.  LEONIDAS  POLK,  C.S.A. 


,1 

'QH  a  Atlanta— 


Joljnatnn      4- 


June 
1864 


after  repairing  the  railroad  bridge  across  the  Etowah  River. 
Johnston  swung  his  left  around  to  Lost  Mountain  and  his 
right  extended  beyond  the  railroad — a  line  ten  miles  in  length  ^^^  jj|  || , 
and  much  too  long  for  its  numbers.  Johnston's  army,  how 
ever,  had  been  reen forced,  and  it  now  numbered  about  seventy- 
five  thousand  men.  Sherman,  on  June  1st,  had  nearly  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  men  and  on  the  8th  he  received 
the  addition  of  a  cavalry  brigade  and  two  divisions  of  the 
Seventeenth  Corps,  under  General  Frank  P.  Blair,  which  had 
marched  from  Alabama. 

So  multifarious  were  the  movements  of  the  two  great 
armies  among  the  hills  and  forests  of  that  part  of  Georgia 
that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  follow  them  all.  On  the  14th  of 
June,  Generals  Johnston,  Hardee,  and  Polk  rode  up  the  slope 
of  Pine  Mountain  to  reconnoiter.  As  they  \vere  standing, 
making  observations,  a  Federal  battery  in  the  distance  opened 
on  them  and  General  Polk  was  struck  in  the  chest  with  a 
Parrot  shell.  He  was  killed  instantly. 

General  Polk  was  greatly  beloved,  and  his  death  caused 
a  shock  to  the  whole  Confederate  army.  He  was  a  graduate 
of  West  Point;  but  after  being  graduated  he  took  orders  in 
the  church  and  for  twenty  years  before  the  war  was  Episcopal 
Bishop  of  Louisiana.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  entered 
the  field  and  served  with  distinction  to  the  moment  of  his  death. 

During  the  next  two  weeks  there  was  almost  incessant 
fighting,  heavy  skirmishing,  sparring  for  position.  It  was  a 
wonderful  game  of  military  strategy,  played  among  the  hills 
and  mountains  and  forests  by  two  masters  in  the  art  of  war. 
On  June  23d,  Sherman  wrote,  "  The  whole  country  is  one 
vast  fort,  and  Johnston  must  have  full  fifty  miles  of  connected 
trenches.  .  .  .  Our  lines  are  now  in  close  contact,  and  the 
fighting  incessant.  ...  As  fast  as  we  gain  one  position,  the 
enemy  has  another  all  ready." 

Sherman,  conscious  of  superior  strength,  was  now  anx 
ious  for  a  real  battle,  a  fight  to  the  finish  with  his  antagonist. 


\r\ 


IN  THE  HARDEST  FIGHT  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN— THE  ONE-HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY-FIFTH  OHIO 

During  the  dark  days  before  Kenesaw  it  rained  continually,  and  Sherman  speaks  of  the  peculiarly  depressing  effect  that  the  weather 
had  upon  his  troops  in  the  wooded  country.  Nevertheless  he  must  either  assault  Johnston's  strong  position  on  the  mountain  or  begin 
again  his  flanking  tactics.  He  decided  upon  the  former,  and  on  June  27th,  after  three  days'  preparation,  the  assault  was  made.  At 
nine  in  the  morning  along  the  Federal  lines  the  furious  fire  of  musketry  and  artillery  was  begun,  but  at  all  points  the  Confederates 
met  it  with  determined  courage  and  in  great  force.  McPherson's  attacking  column,  under  General  Blair,  fought  its  way  up  the  face 
of  little  Kenesaw  but  could  not  reach  the  summit.  Then  the  courageous  troops  of  Thomas  charged  up  the  face  of  the  mountain  and 
planted  their  colors  on  the  very  parapet  of  the  Confederate  works.  Here  General  Harker,  commanding  the  brigade  in  which 
fought  the  125th  Ohio,  fell  mortally  wounded,  as  did  Brigadier-General  Daniel  McC'ook,  and  also  General  Wagner. 


COPYRIGHT,   1911,  REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 

FEDERAL  ENTRENCHMENTS  AT  THE   FOOT  OF   KENESAW  MOUNTAIN 


n  Atlanta 


110.  Snljnatnn      •$•      •*• 


But  Johnston  was  too  wily  to  be  thus  caught.  lie  made  no 
false  move  on  the  great  chessboard  of  war.  At  length,  the 
impatient  Sherman  decided  to  make  a  general  front  attack, 
even  though  Johnston,  at  that  moment,  was  impregnably  en 
trenched  on  the  slopes  of  Kenesaw  Mountain.  This  was  pre 
cisely  what  the  Confederate  commander  was  hoping  for. 

The  desperate  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain  occurred  on 
the  27th  of  June.  In  the  early  morning  hours,  the  boom  of 
Federal  cannon  announced  the  opening  of  a  bloody  day's 
struggle.  It  was  soon  answered  by  the  Confederate  batteries 
in  the  entrenchments  along  the  mountain  side,  and  the  deaf 
ening  roar  of  the  giant  conflict  reverberated  from  the  surround 
ing  hills.  About  nine  o'clock  the  Union  infantry  advance 
began.  On  the  left  was  McPherson,  who  sent  the  Fif 
teenth  Army  Corps,  led  by  General  John  A.  Logan,  directly 
against  the  mountain.  The  artillery  from  the  Confederate 
trenches  in  front  of  Logan  cut  down  his  men  by  hundreds. 
The  Federals  charged  courageously  and  captured  the  lower 
works,  but  failed  to  take  the  higher  ridges. 

The  chief  assault  of  the  day  was  by  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  under  Thomas.  Most  conspicuous  in  the  attack 
were  the  divisions  of  Newton  and  Davis,  advancing  against 
General  Loring,  successor  of  the  lamented  Polk.  Far  up  on 
a  ridge  at  one  point,  General  Cleburne  held  a  line  of  breast 
works,  supported  by  the  flanking  fire  of  artillery.  Against 
this  a  vain  and  costly  assault  was  made. 

When  the  word  was  given  to  charge,  the  Federals  sprang 
forward  and,  in  the  face  of  a  deadly  hail  of  musket-balls  and 
shells,  they  dashed  up  the  slope,  firing  as  they  went.  Stunned 
and  bleeding,  they  were  checked  again  and  again  by  the  with 
ering  fire  from  the  mountain  slope;  but  they  re-formed  and 
pressed  on  with  dauntless  valor.  Some  of  them  reached  the 
parapets  and  wrere  instantly  shot  do\vn,  their  bodies  rolling 
into  the  Confederate  trenches  among  the  men  who  had  slain 
them,  or  back  down  the  hill  whence  they  had  come.  General 


T 


June 


,^""'1111 
1^ 


I 


41 


COPYRIGHT;   tail,   REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


A  VETERAN  BATTERY  FROM  ILLINOIS,  NEAR  MARIETTA  IN  THE  ATLANTA 

CAMPAIGN 


Battery  B  of  the  First  Illinois  Light  Artillery  followed  Sherman  in  the  Atlanta  campaign.  It  took  part  in  the 
demonstrations  against  Resaca,  Georgia,  May  8  to  15,  1864,  and  in  the  battle  of  Resaca  on  the  14th  and  15th. 
It  was  in  the  battles  about  Dallas  from  May  25th  to  June  5th,  and  took  part  in  the  operations  about  Marietta 
and  against  Kenesaw  Mountain  in  June  and  July.  During  the  latter  period  this  photograph  was  taken.  The 
.battery  did  not  go  into  this  campaign  without  previous  experience.  It  had  already  fought  as  one  of  the  eight 
batteries  at  Fort  Henry  and  Fort  Donelson,  heard  the  roar  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  and  participated  in  the 
sieges  of  Corinth  and  Vicksburg.  The  artillery  in  the  "West  was  not  a  whit  less  necessary  to  the  armies  than 
that  in  the  East.  Pope's  brilliant  feat  of  arms  in  the  capture  of  Island  No.  10  added  to  the  growing  respect 
in  which  the  artillery  was  held  by  the  other  arms  of  the  service.  The  effective  fire  of  the  massed  batteries  at 
Murfreesboro  turned  the  tide  of  battle.  At  Chickamauga  the  Union  artillery  inflicted  fearful  losses  upon  the 
Confederates.  At  Atlanta  again  they  counted  their  dead  by  the  hundreds,  and  at  Franklin  and  Nashville  the 
guns  maintained  the  best  traditions  of  the  Western  armies.  They  played  no  small  part  in  winning  battles. 


0  Atlanta 


301}mst0n 


June 
1864 


Harker,  leading  a  charge  against  Cleburne,  was  mortally 
wounded.  His  men  were  swept  back  by  a  galling  fire,  though 
many  fell  with  their  brave  leader. 

This  assault  on  Kenesaw  Mountain  cost  Sherman  three 
thousand  men  and  won  him  nothing.  Johnston's  loss  prob 
ably  exceeded  five  hundred.  The  battle  continued  but  two 
and  a  half  hours.  It  was  one  of  the  most  recklessly  daring 
assaults  during  the  whole  war  period,  but  did  not  greatly  affect 
the  final  result  of  the  campaign. 

Under  a  flag  of  truce,  on  the  day  after  the  battle,  the 
men  of  the  North  and  of  the  South  met  on  the  gory  field  to 
bury  their  dead  and  to  minister  to  the  wounded.  They  met  as 
friends  for  the  moment,  and  not  as  foes.  It  was  said  that 
there  were  instances  of  father  and  son,  one  in  blue  and  the 
other  in  gray,  and  brothers  on  opposite  sides,  meeting  one 
another  on  the  bloody  slopes  of  Kenesaw.  Tennessee  and 
Kentucky  had  sent  thousands  of  men  to  each  side  in  the 
fratricidal  struggle  and  not  infrequently  families  had  been 
divided. 

Three  weeks  of  almost  incessant  rain  fell  upon  the  strug 
gling  armies  during  this  time,  rendering  their  operations  dis 
agreeable  and  unsatisfactory.  The  camp  equipage,  the  men's 
uniforms  and  accouterments  were  thoroughly  saturated  with 
rain  and  mud.  Still  the  warriors  of  the  North  and  of  the 
South  lived  and  fought  on  the  slopes  of  the  mountain  range, 
intent  on  destroying  each  other. 

Sherman  was  convinced  by  his  drastic  repulse  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain  that  success  lay  not  in  attacking  his  great  antag 
onist  in  a  strong  position,  and  he  resumed  his  old  tactics.  He 
would  flank  Johnston  from  Kenesaw  as  he  had  flanked  him 
out  of  Dalton  arid  Allatoona  Pass.  He  thereupon  turned 
upon  Johnston's  line  of  communication  with  Atlanta,  whence 
the  latter  received  his  supplies.  The  movement  was  success 
ful,  and  in  a  few  days  Kenesaw  Mountain  was  deserted. 

Johnston   moved   to    the    banks    of    the    Chattahoochee, 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


THOMAS'   HEADQUARTERS  NEAR  MARIETTA  DURING  THE  FIGHTING   OF 

THE  FOURTH  OF  JULY 


This  is  a  photograph  of  Independence  Day,  1864.  As  the  sentries  and  staff  officers  stand  outside  the  shel 
tered  tents,  General  Thomas,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  is  busy;  for  the  fighting  is  fierce 
to-day.  Johnston  has  been  outflanked  from  Kenesaw  and  has  fallen  back  eastward  until  he  is  actually 
farther  from  Atlanta  than  Sherman's  right  flank.  Who  will  reach  the  Chattahoochee  first?  There,  if  any 
where,  Johnston  must  make  his  stand;  he  must  hold  the  fords  and  ferries,  and  the  fortifications  that,  with 
the  wisdom  of  a  far-seeing  commander,  he  has  for  a  long  time  been  preparing.  The  rustic  work  in  the  pho 
tograph,  which  embowers  the  tents  of  the  commanding  general  and  his  staff,  is  the  sort  of  thing  that  Civil 
War  soldiers  had'  learned  to  throw  up  within  an  hour  after  pitching  camp. 


PALISADES  AND   CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE  GUARDING  ATLANTA 

At  last  Sherman  is  before  Atlanta.  The  photograph  shows  one  of  the  keypoints  in  the  Confederate 
defense,  the  fort  at  the  head  of  Marietta  Street,  toward  which  the  Federal  lines  were  advancing  from 
the  northwest.  The  old  Potter  house  in  the  background,  once  a  quiet,  handsome  country  seat,  is  now 
surrounded  by  bristling  fortifications,  palisades,  and  double  lines  of  chevaux-de-frise.  Atlanta  was  engaged 
in  the  final  grapple  with  the  force  that  was  to  overcome  her.  Sherman  has  fought  his  way  past  Kenesaw 
and  across  the  Chattahoochee,  through  a  country  which  he  describes  as  "one  vast  fort,"  saying  that  "John 
ston  must  have  at  least  fifty  miles  of  connected  trenches  with  abatis  and  finished  batteries."  Anticipating 
that  Sherman  might  drive  him  back  upon  Atlanta,  Johnston  had  constructed,  during  the  winter,  heavily 
fortified  positions  all  the  way  from  Dalton.  During  his  two  months  in  retreat  the  fortifications  at  At 
lanta  had  been  strengthened  to  the  utmost.  What  he  might  have  done  behind  them  was  never  to  be  known. 


THE  CHATTAHOOCHEE  BRIDGE 

"  One  of  the  strongest  pieces  of  field  fortification  I  ever  saw" — this  was  Sherman's  characterization  of  the  entrenchments  that 
guarded  the  railroad  bridge  over  the  Chattahoochee  on  July  5th.  A  glimpse  of  the  bridge  and  the  freshly-turned  earth  in  1864  is 
given  by  the  upper  picture.  At  this  river  Johnston  made  his  final  effort  to  hold  back  Sherman  from  a  direct  attack  upon  Atlanta. 
If  Sherman  could  get  successfully  across  that  river,  the  Confederates  would  be  compelled  to  fall  back  behind  the  defenses  of  the 
city,  which  was  the  objective  of  the  campaign.  Sherman  perceived  at  once  the  futility  of  trying  to  carry  by  assault  this  strongly 
garrisoned  position.  Instead,  he  made  a  feint  at  crossing  the  river  lower  down,  and  simultaneously  went  to  work  in  earnest  eight 
miles  north  of  the  bridge.  The  lower  picture  shows  the  canvas  pontoon  boats  as  perfected  by  Union  engineers  in  1864.  A  number  of 
these  were  stealthily  set  up  and  launched  by  Sherman's  Twenty-third  Corps  near  the  mouth  of  Soap  Creek,  behind  a  ridge.  Byrd's 
brigade  took  the  defenders  of  the  southern  bank  completely  by  surprise.  It  was  short  work  for  the  Federals  to  throw  pontoon  bridges 
across  and  to  occupy  the  coveted  spot  in  force. 


INFANTRY   AND   ARTILLERY   CROSSING   ON   BOATS   MADE   OF   PONTOONS 


jpr  Atlanta  — 


3(nljn0t0n 


July 
1864. 


n 


fff. 


Sherman  following  in  the  hope  of  catching  him  while  crossing 
the  river.  But  the  wary  Confederate  had  again,  as  at  Resaca, 
prepared  entrenchments  in  advance,  and  these  were  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  river.  He  hastened  to  them,  then  turned 
on  the  approaching  Federals  and  defiantly  awaited  attack. 
But  Sherman  remembered  Kenesaw  and  there  was  no  battle. 

The  feints,  the  sparring,  the  flanking  movements  among 
the  hills  and  forests  continued  day  after  day.  The  immediate 
aim  in  the  early  days  of  July  was  to  cross  the  Chattahoochee. 
On  the  8th,  Sherman  sent  Schofield  and  McPherson  across, 
ten  miles  or  more  above  the  Confederate  position.  Johnston 
crossed  the  next  day.  Thomas  followed  later. 

Sherman's  position  was  by  no  means  reassuring.  It  is 
true  he  had,  in  the  space  of  two  months,  pressed  his  antag 
onist  back  inch  by  inch  for  more  than  a  hundred  miles  and 
was  now  almost  within  sight  of  the  goal  of  the  campaign— 
the  city  of  Atlanta.  But  the  single  line  of  railroad  that  con 
nected  him  with  the  North  and  brought  supplies  from  Louis 
ville,  five  hundred  miles  away,  for  a  hundred  thousand  men 
and  twenty-three  thousand  animals,  might  at  any  moment  be 
destroyed  by  Confederate  raiders. 

The  necessity  of  guarding  the  Western  and  Atlantic 
Railroad  was  an  ever-present  concern  with  Sherman.  Forrest 
and  his  cavalry  force  were  in  northern  Mississippi  waiting 
for  him  to  get  far  enough  on  the  way  to  Atlanta  for  them 
to  pounce  upon  the  iron  way  and  tear  it  to  ruins.  To  pre 
vent  this  General  Samuel  D.  Sturgis,  with  eight  thousand 
troops,  was  sent  from  Memphis  against  Forrest.  He  met  him 
on  the  10th  of  June  near  Guntown,  Mississippi,  but  was  sadly 
beaten  and  driven  back  to  Memphis,  one  hundred  miles  away. 
The  affair,  nevertheless,  delayed  Forrest  in  his  operations 
against  the  railroad,  and  meanwhile  General  Smith's  troops 
returned  to  Memphis  from  the  Red  River  expedition,  some 
what  late  according  to  the  schedule  but  eager  to  join  Sherman 
in  the  advance  on  Atlanta.  Smith,  however,  was  directed  to 


///W. 


Johnston's  parrying  of  Sherman's  mighty 
strokes  was  "a  model  of  defensive  war 
fare,"  declares  one  of  Sherman's  own  divi 
sion  commanders,  Jacob  D.  Cox.  There 
was  not  a  man  in  the  Federal  army  from 
Sherman  down  that  did  not  rejoice  to  hear 
that  Johnston  had  been  superseded  by  Hood 
on  July  18th.  Johnston,  whose  mother  was 
a  niece  of  Patrick  Henry,  was  fifty-seven 
years  old,  cold  in  manner,  measured  and 
accurate  in  speech.  His  dark  firm  face, 
surmounted  by  a  splendidly  intellectual 
forehead,  betokened  the  experienced  and 
cautious  soldier.  His  dismissal  was  one  of 
the  political  mistakes  which  too  often 
hampered  capable  leaders  on  both  sides. 
His  Fabian  policy  in  Georgia  was  precisely 
the  same  as  that  which  was  winning  fame 
against  heavy  odds  for  Lee  in  Virginia. 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL 

JOHN  B.  HOOD,  C.  S.  A. 

BORN  1831;  WEST  POINT  1853;  DIED  1879 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   EGGLESTON 

JOHNSTON,  C.S.A. 
BORN  1809;  WEST  POINT  1829;  DIED  1891 


The  countenance  of  Hood,  on  the  other 
hand,  indicates  an  eager,  restless  energy, 
an  impetuosity  that  lacked  the  poise  of 
Sherman,  whose  every  gesture  showed  the 
alertness  of  mind  and  soundness  of 
judgment  that  in  him  were  so  exactly  bal 
anced.  Both  Schofield  and  McPherson 
were  classmates  of  Hood  at  West  Point, 
and  characterized  him  to  Sherman  as 
"bold  even  to  rashness  and  courageous  in 
the  extreme."  He  struck  the  first  offen 
sive  blow  at  Sherman  advancing  on  At 
lanta,  and  wisely  adhered  to  the  plan  of 
the  battle  as  it  had  been  worked  out  by 
Johnston  just  before  his  removal.  But 
the  policy  of  attacking  was  certain  to 
be  finally  disastrous  to  the  Confederates. 


0  Atlanta — Barman  ML  301jn0t0n 


take  the  offensive  against  Forrest,  and  with  fourteen  thou 
sand  troops,  and  in  a  three  days'  fight,  demoralized  him  badly 
at  Tupelo,  Mississippi,  July  14th-17th.  Smith  returned  to 
Memphis  and  made  another  start  for  Sherman,  when  he  was 
suddenly  turned  back  and  sent  to  Missouri,  where  the  Confed 
erate  General  Price  was  extremely  active,  to  help  Rosecrans. 

To  avoid  final  defeat  and  to  win  the  ground  he  had 
gained  had  taxed  Sherman's  powers  to  the  last  degree  and  was 
made  possible  only  through  his  superior  numbers.  Even  this 
degree  of  success  could  not  be  expected  to  continue  if  the  rail 
road  to  the  North  should  be  destroyed.  But  Sherman  must 
do  more  than  he  had  done;  he  must  capture  Atlanta,  this 
Richmond  of  the  far  South,  with  its  cannon  foundries  and  its 
great  machine-shops,  its  military  factories,  and  extensive  army 
supplies.  He  must  divide  the  Confederacy  north  and  south 
as  Grant's  capture  of  Vicksburg  had  split  it  east  and  west. 

Sherman  must  have  Atlanta,  for  political  reasons  as  well 
as  for  military  purposes.  The  country  was  in  the  midst  of 
a  presidential  campaign.  The  opposition  to  Lincoln's  re 
election  was  strong,  and  for  many  weeks  it  was  believed  on 
all  sides  that  his  defeat  was  inevitable.  At  least,  the  success 
of  the  Union  arms  in  the  field  was  deemed  essential  to  Lin 
coln's  success  at  the  polls.  Grant  had  made  little  progress  in 
Virginia  and  his  terrible  repulse  at  Cold  Harbor,  in  June,  had 
cast  a  gloom  over  every  Northern  State.  Farragut  was  oper 
ating  in  Mobile  Bay;  but  his  success  was  still  in  the  future. 

The  eyes  of  the  supporters  of  the  great  war-president 
turned  longingly,  expectantly,  toward  General  Sherman  and 
his  hundred  thousand  men  before  Atlanta.  "  Do  something 
—something  spectacular— save  the  party  and  save  the  country 
thereby  from  permanent  disruption!"  This  was  the  cry  of 
the  millions,  and  Sherman  understood  it.  But  withal,  the 
capture  of  the  Georgia  city  may  have  been  doubtful  but  for 
the  fact  that  at  the  critical  moment  the  Confederate  Presi 
dent  made  a  decision  that  resulted,  unconsciously,  in  a  decided 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   REV 


PEACH-TREE  CREEK,   WHERE  HOOD   HIT  HARD 

Counting  these  closely  clustered  Federal  graves  gives  one  an  idea  of  the  overwhelming  onset  with  Hood  become  the  aggressor  on  July 
20th.  Beyond  the  graves  are  some  of  the  trenches  from  which  the  Federals  were  at  first  irresistibly  driven.  In  the  background  flows 
Peach-Tree  Creek,  the  little  stream  that  gives  its  name  to  the  battlefield.  Hood,  impatient  to  signalize  his  new  responsibility  by  a 
stroke  that  would  at  once  dispel  the  gloom  at  Richmond,  had  posted  his  troops  behind  strongly  fortified  works  on  a  ridge  commanding 
the  valley  of  Peach-Tree  Creek  about  five  miles  to  the  north  of  Atlanta.  Here  he  awaited  the  approach  of  Sherman.  As  the  Federals 
were  disposing  their  lines  and  entrenching  before  this  position,  Hood's  eager  eyes  detected  a  gap  in  their  formation  and  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  hurled  a  heavy  force  against  it.  Thus  he  proved  his  reputation  for  courage,  but  the  outcome  showed  the  mistake. 
For  a  brief  interval  Sherman's  forces  were  in  great  peril.  But  the  Federals  under  Newton  and  Geary  rallied  and  held  their  ground, 
till  Ward's  division  in  a  brave  counter-charge  drove  the  Confederates  back.  This  first  effort  cost  Hood  dear.  He  abandoned  his 
entrenchments  that  night,  leaving  on  the  field  five  hundred  dead,  one  thousand  wounded,  and  many  prisoners.  Sherman  estimated 
the  total  Confederate  loss  at  no  less  than  five  thousand.  That  of  the  Federals  was  fifteen  hundred. 


Atlanta  — 


service  to  the  Union  cause.  He  dismissed  General  Johnston 
and  put  another  in  his  place,  one  who  was  less  strategic  and 
more  impulsive. 

Jefferson  Davis  did  not  agree  with  General  Johnston's 
military  judgment,  and  he  seized  on  the  fact  that  Johnston 
had  so  steadily  retreated  before  the  Northern  army  as  an  ex 
cuse  for  his  removal.  On  the  18th  of  July,  Davis  turned  the 
Confederate  Army  of  Tennessee  over  to  General  John  B. 
Hood.  A  graduate  of  West  Point  of  the  class  of  1853,  a 
classmate  of  McPherson,  Schofield,  and  Sheridan,  Hood  had 
faithfully  served  the  cause  of  the  South  since  the  opening  of 
the  war.  He  \vas  known  as  a  fighter,  and  it  was  believed  that 
he  would  change  the  policy  of  Johnston  to  one  of  open  battle 
with  Sherman's  army.  And  so  it  proved. 

Johnston  had  lost,  since  the  opening  of  the  campaign  at 
Dalton,  about  fifteen  thousand  men,  and  the  army  that  he  now 
delivered  to  Hood  consisted  of  about  sixty  thousand  in  all. 

While  Hood  was  no  match  for  Sherman  as  a  strategist, 
he  was  not  a  weakling.  His  policy  of  aggression,  however, 
was  not  suited  to  the  circumstances — to  the  nature  of  the 
country — in  view  of  the  fact  that  Sherman's  army  was  far 
stronger  than  his  own. 

Two  days  after  Hood  took  command  of  the  Confederate 
army  he  offered  battle.  Sherman's  forces  had  crossed  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  a  small  stream  flowing  into  the  Chattahoochee, 
but  a  few  miles  from  Atlanta,  and  were  approaching  the  city. 
They  had  thrown  up  slight  breastworks,  as  was  their  custom, 
but  were  not  expecting  an  attack.  Suddenly,  however,  about 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  July  20th,  an  imposing  col 
umn  of  Confederates  burst  from  the  woods  near  the  position 
of  the  Union  right  center,  under  Thomas.  The  Federals 
were  soon  at  their  guns.  The  battle  was  short,  fierce,  and 
bloody.  The  Confederates  made  a  gallant  assault,  but  were 
pressed  back  to  their  entrenchments,  leaving  the  ground  cov 
ered  with  dead  and  wounded.  The  Federal  loss  in  the  battle 


^ 
it. 


THE   ARMY'S  FINGER-TIPS—PICKETS   BEFORE   ATLANTA 


A  Federal  picket  post  on  the  lines  before  Atlanta.  This  picture  was  taken  shortly  before  the  battle  of 
July  22d.  The  soldiers  are  idling  about  unconcerned  at  exposing  themselves;  this  is  on  the  "reserve  post." 
Somewhat  in  advance  of  this  lay  the  outer  line  of  pickets,  and  it  would  be  time  enough  to  seek  cover  if 
they  were  driven  in.  Thus  armies  feel  for  each  other,  stretching  out  first  their  sensitive  fingers- — the  pickets. 
If  these  recoil,  the  skirmishers  are  sent  forward  while  the  strong  arm,  the  line  of  battle,  gathers  itself 
to  meet  the  foe.  As  this  was  an  inner  line,  it  was  more  strongly  fortified  than  was  customary  with 
the  pickets.  But  the  men  of  both  sides  had  become  very  expert  in  improvising  field-works  at  this  stage 
of  the  war.  Hard  campaigning  had  taught  the  veterans  the  importance  to  themselves  of  providing 
such  protection,  and  no  orders  had  to  be  given  for  their  construction.  As  soon  as  a  regiment  gained  a 
position  desirable  to  hold,  the  soldiers  would  throw  up  a  strong  parapet  of  dirt  and  logs  in  a  single  night. 
In  order  to  spare  the  men  as  much  as  possible,  Sherman  ordered  his  division  commanders  to  organize 
pioneer  detachments  out  of  the  Negroes  that  escaped  to  the  Federals.  These  could  work  at  night. 


0  Atlmtia 


July 
1864 


of  Peach  Tree  Creek  was  placed  at  over  seventeen  hundred, 
the  Confederate  loss  being  much  greater.  This  battle  had 
been  planned  by  Johnston  before  his  removal,  but  he  had  been 
waiting  for  the  strategic  moment  to  fight  it. 

Two  days  later,  July  22d,  occurred  the  greatest  engage 
ment  of  the  entire  campaign — the  battle  of  Atlanta.  The 
Federal  army  was  closing  in  on  the  entrenchments  of  Atlanta, 
and  was  now  within  two  or  three  miles  of  the  city.  On  the 
night  of  the  21st,  General  Blair,  of  McPherson's  army,  had 
gained  possession  of  a  high  hill  on  the  left,  which  commanded 
a  view  of  the  heart  of  the  city.  Hood  thereupon  planned  to 
recapture  this  hill,  and  make  a  general  attack  on  the  morning 
of  the  22d.  He  sent  General  Hardee  on  a  long  night  march 
around  the  extreme  flank  of  McPherson's  army,  the  attack  to 
be  made  at  daybreak.  Meantime,  General  Cheatham,  who  had 
succeeded  to  the  command  of  Hood's  former  corps,  and  Gen 
eral  A.  P.  Stewart,  who  now  had  Folk's  corps,  were  to  engage 
Thomas  and  Schofield  in  front  and  thus  prevent  them  from 
sending  aid  to  McPherson. 

Hardee  was  delayed  in  his  fifteen-mile  night  march,  and 
it  was  noon  before  he  attacked.  At  about  that  hour  Generals 
Sherman  and  McPherson  sat  talking  near  the  Howard  house, 
which  was  the  Federal  headquarters,  when  the  sudden  boom 
of  artillery  from  beyond  the  hill  that  Blair  had  captured  an 
nounced  the  opening  of  the  coming  battle.  McPherson  quickly 
leaped  upon  his  horse  and  galloped  away  toward  the  sound  of 
the  guns.  Meeting  Logan  and  Blair  near  the  railroad,  he 
conferred  with  them  for  a  moment,  when  they  separated,  and 
each  hastened  to  his  place  in  the  battle-line.  McPherson  sent 
aides  and  orderlies  in  various  directions  with  despatches,  until 
but  two  were  still  with  him.  He  then  rode  into  a  forest  and 
was  suddenly  confronted  by  a  portion  of  the  Confederate 
army  under  General  Cheatham.  "  Surrender,"  was  the  call 
that  rang  out.  But  he  wheeled  his  horse  as  if  to  flee,  when  he 
was  instantly  shot  dead,  and  the  horse  galloped  back  riderless. 


THE  FINAL  BLOW  TO  THE  CONFEDERACY'S  SOUTHERN  STRONGHOLD 

It  was  Sherman's  experienced  railroad  wreckers  that  finally  drove  Hood  out  of  Atlanta.  In  the  picture  the  rails  heating  red-hot 
amid  the  flaming  bonfires  of  the  ties,  and  the  piles  of  twisted  debris  show  vividly  what  Sherman  meant  when  he  said  their  "work  was 
done  with  a  will."  Sherman  saw  that  in  order  to  take  Atlanta  without  terrific  loss  he  must  cut  off  all  its  rail  communications.  This  he 
did  by  "taking  the  field  with  our  main  force  and  using  it  against  the  communications  of  Atlanta  instead  of  against  its  intrench- 
ments."  On  the  night  of  August  25th  he  moved  with  practically  his  entire  army  and  wagon-trains  loaded  with  fifteen  days'  rations. 
By  the  morning  of  the  27th  the  whole  front  of  the  city  was  deserted.  The  Confederates  concluded  that  Sherman  was  in  retreat. 
Next  day  they  found  out  their  mistake,  for  the  Federal  army  lay  across  the  West  Point  Railroad  while  the  soldiers  began  wrecking  it. 
Next  day  they  were  in  motion  toward  the  railroad  to  Macon,  and  General  Hood  began  to  understand  that  a  colossal  raid  was  in 
progress.  After  the  occupation,  when  this  picture  was  taken,  Sherman's  men  completed  the  work  of  destruction, 


§>termatt 


July 
1864 


i 


•ik 


The  death  of  the  brilliant,  dashing  young  leader,  James 
B.  McPherson,  was  a  great  blow  to  the  Union  army.  But 
thirty-six  years  of  age,  one  of  the  most  promising  men  in  the 
country,  and  already  the  commander  of  a  military  department, 
McPherson  was  the  only  man  in  all  the  Western  armies  whom 
Grant,  on  going  to  the  East,  placed  in  the  same  military  class 
with  Sherman. 

Logan  succeeded  the  fallen  commander,  and  the  battle 
raged  on.  The  Confederates  were  gaining  headway.  They 
captured  several  guns.  Cheatham  was  pressing  on,  pouring 
volley  after  volley  into  the  ranks  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  which  seemed  about  to  be  cut  in  twain.  A  gap  was 
opening.  The  Confederates  were  pouring  through.  General 
Sherman  was  present  and  saw  the  danger.  Calling  for  Scho- 
field  to  send  several  batteries,  he  placed  them  and  poured  a 
concentrated  artillery  fire  through  the  gap  and  mowed  down 
the  advancing  men  in  swaths.  At  the  same  time,  Logan 
pressed  forward  and  Schofield's  infantry  was  called  up.  The 
Confederates  were  hurled  back  with  great  loss.  The  shadows 
of  night  fell — and  the  battle  of  Atlanta  was  over.  Hood's 
losses  exceeded  eight  thousand  of  his  brave  men,  whom  he 
could  ill  spare.  Sherman  lost  about  thirty-seven  hundred. 

The  Confederate  army  recuperated  within  the  defenses  of 
Atlanta— behind  an  almost  impregnable  barricade.  Sherman 
had  no  hope  of  carrying  the  city  by  assault,  while  to  surround 
and  invest  it  was  impossible  with  his  numbers.  He  deter 
mined,  therefore,  to  strike  Hood's  lines  of  supplies.  On  July 
28th,  Hood  again  sent  Hardee  out  from  his  entrenchments  to 
attack  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  now  under  the  command 
of  General  Howard.  A  fierce  battle  at  Ezra  Church  on  the 
west  side  of  the  city  ensued,  and  again  the  Confederates  were 
defeated  with  heavy  loss. 

A  month  passed  and  Sherman  had  made  little  progress 
toward  capturing  Atlanta.  Two  cavalry  raids  which  he  or 
ganized  resulted  in  defeat,  but  the  two  railroads  from  the 


fA 


THE   RUIN  OF  HOOD'S  RETREAT— DEMOLISHED   CARS  AND   ROLLING-MILL 


On  the  night  of  August  31st,  in  his  headquarters  near  Jonesboro,  Sherman  could  not  sleep.  That  day 
he  had  defeated  the  force  sent  against  him  at  Jonesboro  and  cut  them  off  from  returning  to  Atlanta.  This 
was  Hood's  last  effort  to  save  his  communications.  About  midnight  sounds  of  exploding  shells  and  what 
seemed  like  volleys  of  musketry  arose  in  the  direction  of  Atlanta.  The  day  had  been  exciting  in  that  city. 
Supplies  and  ammunition  that  Hood  could  carry  writh  him  were  being  removed;  large  quantities  of  pro 
visions  were  being  distributed  among  the  citizens,  and  as  the  troops  marched  out  they  were  allowed  to 
take  what  they  could  from  the  public  stores.  All  that  remained  was  destroyed.  The  noise  that  Sherman 
heard  that  night  was  the  blowing  up  of  the  rolling-mill  and  of  about  a  hundred  cars  and  six  engines  loaded 
with  Hood's  abandoned  ammunition.  The  picture  shows  the  Georgia  Central  Railroad  east  of  the  town. 


BLAIR,   OF   MISSOURI 

Although  remaining  politically  neutral  through 
out  the  war,  Missouri  contributed  four  hundred 
and  forty-seven  separate  military  organizations 
to  the  Federal  armies,  and  over  one  hundred  to 
the  Confederacy.  The  Union  sentiment  in  the 
State  is  said  to  have  been  due  to  Frank  P.  Blair, 
who,  early  in  1861,  began  organizing  home  guards. 
Blair  subsequently  joined  Grant's  command  and 
served  with  that  leader  until  Sherman  took  the 
helm  in  the  West.  With  Sherman  Major-Gene ral 
Blair  fought  in  Georgia  and  through  the  Carolinas. 


BAKER,   OF   CALIFORNIA 

California  contributed, twelve  military  organiza 
tions  to  the  Federal  forces,  but  none  of  them  took 
part  in  the  campaigns  east  of  the  Mississippi. 
Its  Senator,  Edward  D.  Baker,  was  in  his  place 
in  Washington  when  the  war  broke  out,  and, 
being  a  close  friend  of  Lincoln,  promptly  organized 
a  regiment  of  Pennsylvanians  which  was  best 
known  by  its  synonym  "First  California."  Colonel 
Baker  was  killed  at  the  head  of  it  at  the  battle  of 
Ball's  Bluff,  Virginia,  October  21,  1861.  Baker 
had  been  appointed  brigadier-general  but  declined. 


KELLEY,   OF   WEST   VIRGINIA 

West  Virginia  counties  had  already  supplied 
soldiers  for  the  Confederates  when  the  new  State 
was  organized  in  1861.  As  early  as  May,  1861, 
Colonel  B.  F.  Kelley  was  in  the  field  with  the 
First  West  Virginia  Infantry  marshalled  under  the 
Stars  and  Stripes.  He  served  to  the  end  of  the  war 
and  was  brevetted  major-general.  West  Virginia 
furnished  thirty-seven  organizations  of  all  arms  to 
the  Federal  armies,  chiefly  for  local  defense  and  for 
service  in  contiguous  territory.  General  Kelley 
was  prominent  in  the  Shenandoah  campaigns. 


REPRESENTATIVE    SOLDIERS    FROM   A    DOZEN    STATES 


SMYTH,    OF    DELAWARE 

Little  Delaware  furnished  to  the  Federal  armies 
fifteen  separate  military  organizations.  First  in 
the  field  was  Colonel  Thomas  A.  Smyth,  with  the 
First  Delaware  Infantry.  Early  promoted  to  the 
command  of  a  brigade,  he  led  it  at  Gettysburg, 
where  it  received  the  full  force  of  Pickett's 
charge  on  Cemetery  Ridge,  July  3,  1863.  He  was 
brevetted  major-general  and  fell  at  Farmville, 
on  Appomattox  River,  Va.,  April  7,  1865,  two 
days  before  the  surrender  at  Appomattox.  Gen 
eral  Smyth  was  a  noted  leader  in  the  Second  Corps. 


MITCHELL,   OF   KANSAS 

The  virgin  State  of  Kansas  sent  fifty  regiments, 
battalions,  and  batteries  into  the  Federal  camps. 
Its  Second  Infantry  was  organized  and  led  to  the 
field  by  Colonel  R.  B.  Mitchell,  a  veteran  of  the 
Mexican  War.  At  the  first  battle  in  the  West, 
Wilson's  Creek,  Mo.  (August  10,  1861),  he  was 
wounded.  At  the  battle  of  Perryville,  Brigadier- 
General  Mitchell  commanded  a  division  in  Mc- 
Cook's  Corps  and  fought  desperately  to  hold  the 
Federal  left  flank  against  a  sudden  and  des 
perate  assault  by  General  Bragg's  Confederates. 


CROSS,   OF   NEW   HAMPSHIRE 

New  Hampshire  supplied  twenty-nine  military 
organizations  to  the  Federal  armies.  To  the 
Granite  State  belongs  the  grim  distinction  of  fur 
nishing  the  regiment  which  had  the  heaviest  mor 
tality  roll  of  any  infantry  organization  in  the 
army.  This  was  the  Fifth  New  Hampshire,  com 
manded  by  Colonel  E.  E.  Cross.  The  Fifth  served 
in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  At  Gettysburg,  Col 
onel  Cross  commanded  a  brigade,  which  included 
the  Fifth  New  Hampshire,  and  was  killed  at 
the  head  of  it  near  Devil's  Den,  on  July  2,  1863. 


PEARCE,   OF  ARKANSAS 

Arkansas  entered  into  the  war  with  enthusiasm, 
and  had  a  large  contingent  of  Confederate  troops 
ready  for  the  field  in  the  summer  of  1861.  At 
Wilson's  Creek,  Missouri,  August  10,  1861,  there 
v.-ere  four  regiments  and  two  batteries  of  Arkan- 
sans  under  command  of  Brigadier-General  N.  B. 
Pearce.  Arkansas  furnished  seventy  separate 
military  organizations  to  the  Confederate  armies 
and  seventeen  to  the  Federals.  The  State  was 
gallantly  represented  in  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  notably  at  Antietam  and  Gettysburg. 


STEUART,    OF   MARYLAND 

Maryland '  quickly  responded  to  the  Southern 
call  to  arms,  and  among  its  first  contribution  of 
soldiers  was  George  H.  Steuart,  who  led  a  bat 
talion  across  the  Potomac  early  in  1861.  These 
Marylanders  fought  at  First  Bull  Run,  or  Manas- 
sas,  and  Lee's  army  at  Petersburg  included  Mary 
land  troops  under  Brigadier-General  Steuart. 
During  the  war  this  little  border  State,  politically 
•neutral,  sent  six  separate  organizations  to  the 
Confederates  in  Virginia,  and  mustered  thirty- 
five  for  the  Federal  camps  and  for  local  defense. 


CRITTENDEN,    THE    CONFEDERATE 

Kentucky  is  notable  as  a  State  which  sent 
brothers  to  both  the  Federal  and  Confederate 
armies.  Major-General  George  B.  Crittenden, 
C.  S.  A.,  was  the  brother  of  Major-General 
Thomas  L.  Crittenden,  U.  S.  A.  Although  re 
maining  politically  neutral  throughout  the  war, 
the  Blue  Grass  State  sent  forty-nine  regiments, 
battalions,  and  batteries  across  the  border  to  up 
hold  the  Stars  and  Bars,  and  mustered  eighty  of  all 
arms  to  battle  around  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and 
protect  the  State  from  Confederate  incursions. 


LEADERS    IN   SECURING    VOLUNTEERS    FOR    NORTH    AND    SOUTH 


RANSOM,   OF   NORTH   CAROLINA 

The  last  of  the  Southern  States  to  cast  its  for 
tunes  in  with  the  Confederacy,  North  Carolina 
vied  with  the  pioneers  in  the  spirit  with  which 
it  entered  the  war.  With  the  First  North  Caro 
lina,  Lieut.-Col.  Matt  W.  Ransom  was  on  the 
firing-line  early  in  1861.  Under  his  leadership 
as  brigadier-general,  North  Carolinians  carried 
the  Stars  and  Bars  on  all  the  great  battlefields 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  The  State 
furnished  ninety  organizations  for  the  Confeder 
ate  armies,  and  sent  eight  to  the  Federal  camps. 


FINEGAN,   OF   FLORIDA 

Florida  was  one  of  the  first  to  follow  South  Caro 
lina's  example  in  dissolving  the  Federal  coa  pact. 
It  furnished  twenty-one  military  organizations 
to  the  Confederate  forces,  and  throughout  the 
war  maintained  a  vigorous  home  defense.  Its  fore 
most  soldier  to  take  the  field  when  the  State  was 
menaced  by  a  strong  Federal  expedition  in  Feb 
ruary,  1864,  was  Brigadier-General  Joseph  Fine- 
gan.  Hastily  gathering  scattered  detachments, 
he  defeated  and  checked  the  expedition  at  the 
battle  of  Olustee,  or  Ocean  Pond,  on  February  20. 


CLEBURNE,   OF   TENNESSEE 

Cleburne  was  of  foreign  birth,  but  before  the  war 
was  one  year  old  he  became  the  leader  of  Ten- 
nesseeans,  fighting  heroically  on  Tennessee  soil. 
At  Shiloh,  Cleburne's  brigade,  and  at  Murfrees- 
boro,  Chattanooga,  and  Franklin,  Major-General 
P.  R.  Cleburne's  division  found  the  post  of 
honor.  At  Franklin  this  gallant  Irishman  "The 
'Stonewall'  Jackson  of  the  West,"  led  Tennes- 
seeans  for  the  last  time  and  fell  close  to  the 
breastworks.  Tennessee  sent  the  Confederate 
armies  129  organizations,  and  the  Federal  fifty-six, 


0  Atlanta — Barman  U^L  30Ijn0t0n      * 


south  into  Atlanta  were  considerably  damaged.  But,  late  in 
August,  the  Northern  commander  made  a  daring  move  that 
proved  successful.  Leaving  his  base  of  supplies,  as  Grant  had 
done  before  Vicksburg,  and  marching  toward  Jonesboro,  Sher 
man  destroyed  the  Macon  and  Western  Railroad,  the  only  re 
maining  line  of  supplies  to  the  Confederate  army. 

Hood  attempted  to  block  the  march  on  Jonesboro,  and 
Hardee  was  sent  with  his  and  S.  D.  Lee's  Corps  to  attack  the 
Federals,  while  he  himself  sought  an  opportunity  to  move  upon 
Sherman's  right  flank.  Hardee's  attack  failed,  and  this  ne 
cessitated  the  evacuation  of  Atlanta.  After  blowing  up  his 
magazines  and  destroying  the  supplies  which  his  men  could 
not  carry  with  them,  Hood  abandoned  the  city,  and  the  next 
day,  September  2d,  General  Slocum,  having  succeeded 
Hooker,  led  the  Twentieth  Corps  of  the  Federal  army  within 
its  earthen  walls.  Hood  had  made  his  escape,  saving  his  army 
from  capture.  His  chief  desire  would  have  been  to  march 
directly  north  on  Marietta  and  destroy  the  depots  of  Federal 
supplies,  but  a  matter  of  more  importance  prevented.  Thirty- 
four  thousand  Union  prisoners  were  confined  at  Andersonville, 
arid  a  small  body  of  cavalry  could  have  released  them.  So 
Hood  placed  himself  between  Andersonville  and  Sherman. 

In  the  early  days  of  September  the  Federal  hosts  occupied 
the  city  toward  which  they  had  toiled  all  the  summer  long.  At 
East  Point,  Atlanta,  and  Decatur,  the  three  armies  settled  for 
a  brief  rest,  while  the  cavalry,  stretched  for  many  miles  along 
the  Chattahoochee,  protected  their  flanks  and  rear.  Since  May 
their  ranks  had  been  depleted  by  some  twenty-eight  thousand 
killed  and  wounded,  while  nearry  four  thousand  had  fallen  pris 
oners,  into  the  Confederates'  hands. 

It  was  a  great  price,  but  whatever  else  the  capture  of 
Atlanta  did,  it  ensured  the  reelection  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States.  The  total  Confederate 
losses  were  in  the  neighborhood  of  thirty-five  thousand,  of 
which  thirteen  thousand  were  prisoners. 

[Part  XIII] 


THE  LAST  CONFLICTS  IN  THE 
SHENANDOAH 

Sheridan's  operations  were  character! /ed  not  so  much,  as  has  been 
supposed,  by  any  originality  of  method,  as  by  a  just  appreciation  of  the 
proper  manner  of  combining  the  two  arms  of  infantry  and  cavalry.  He 
constantly  used  his  powerful  body  of  horse,  which  under  his  disciplined 
hand  attained  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  as  an  impenetrable  mask  be 
hind  which  he  screened  the  execution  of  maneuvers  of  infantry  columns 
hurled  with  a  mighty  momentum  on  one  of  the  enemy's  flanks. —  William 
Swinton,  in  "Campaigns  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac," 

ON  July  12,  1864,  in  the  streets  of  Washington,  there 
could  be  distinctly  heard  the  boom  of  cannon  and  the 
sharp  firing  of  musketry.  The  excitement  in  the  city  was 
intense.  The  old  specter  "  threaten  Washington,"  that  for 
three  years  had  been  a  standing  menace  to  the  Federal  au 
thorities  and  a  "  very  present  help  "  to  the  Confederates,  now 
seemed  to  have  come  in  the  flesh.  The  hopes  of  the  South  and 
the  fears  of  the  North  were  apparently  about  to  be  realized. 
The  occasion  of  this  demonstration  before  the  very  gates 
of  the  city  was  the  result  of  General  Lee's  project  to  relieve 
the  pressure  on  his  own  army,  by  an  invasion  of  the  border 
States  and  a  threatening  attitude  toward  the  Union  capital. 
The  plan  had  wrorked  well  before,  and  Lee  believed  it  again 
would  be  effective.  Grant  was  pushing  him  hard  in  front 
of  Petersburg.  Accordingly,  Lee  despatched  the  daring 
soldier,  General  Jubal  A.  Early,  to  carry  the  war  again  to 
the  northward.  He  was  to  go  by  the  beautiful  and  fertile 
Shenandoah  valley,  that  highway  of  the  Confederates  along 
which  the  legions  of  the  South  had  marched  and  counter 
marched.  On  the  9th  of  July,  the  advance  lines  of  the  Con 
federate  force  came  to  the  banks  of  the  Monocacy,  where  they 


OI0nfltrtH  in 


found  General  Lew  Wallace  posted,  with  eight  thousand  men, 
half  of  Early's  numbers,  on  the  eastern  side  of  that  stream,  to 
contest  the  approach  of  the  Southern  troops. 

The  battle  was  brief  but  bloody;  the  Confederates,  cross 
ing  the  stream  and  climbing  its  slippery  banks,  hurled  their 
lines  of  gray  against  the  compact  ranks  of  blue.  The  attack 
was  impetuous ;  the  repulse  was  stubborn.  A  wail  of  musketry 
rent  the  air  and  the  Northern  soldiers  fell  back  to  their  second 
position.  Between  the  opposing  forces  was  a  narrow  ravine 
through  which  flowed  a  small  brook.  Across  this  stream  the 
tide  of  battle  rose  and  fell.  Its  limpid  current  was  soon  crim 
soned  by  the  blood  of  the  dead  and  wounded.  Wallace's  col 
umns,  as  did  those  of  Early,  bled,  but  they  stood.  The  result 
of  the  battle  for  a  time  hung  in  the  balance.  Then  the  Federal 
lines  began  to  crumble.  The  retreat  began,  some  of  the  troops 
in  order  but  the  greater  portion  in  confusion,  and  the  victo 
rious  Confederates  found  again  an  open  way  to  Washington. 

Now  within  half  a  dozen  miles  of  the  city,  with  the  dome 
of  the  Capitol  in  full  view,  the  Southern  general  pushed  his 
lines  so  close  to  Fort  Stevens  that  he  was  ready  to  train  his 
forty  pieces  of  artillery  upon  its  walls. 

General  Augur,  in  command  of  the  capital's  defenses, 
hastily  collected  what  strength  in  men  and  guns  he  could. 
Heavy  artillery,  militia,  sailors  from  the  navy  yard,  convales 
cents,  Government  employees  of  all  kinds  were  rushed  to  the 
forts  around  the  city.  General  Wright,  with  two  divisions  of 
the  Sixth  Corps,  arrived  from  the  camp  at  Petersburg,  and 
Emory's  division  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps  came  just  in  time 
from  New  Orleans.  This  was  on  July  llth,  the  very  day  on 
which  Early  appeared  in  front  of  Fort  Stevens.  The  Con 
federate  had  determined  to  make  an  assault,  but  the  knowledge 
of  the  arrival  of  Wright  a,nd  Emory  caused  him  to  change  his 
mind.  He  realized  that,  if  unsuccessful,  his  whole  force  would 
be  lost,  and  he  concluded  to  return.  Nevertheless,  he  spent 
the  12th  of  July  in  threatening  the  city.  In  the  middle  of 


III/: 


iff/I. 


mf/A 


7& 


/ 


?. 


OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


GENERAL  JUBAL  A.  EARLY,  THE  CONFED 
ERATE  RAIDER  WHO  THREATENED 
WASHINGTON 

"My  bad  old  man,"  as  General  Lee  playfully  called 
him,  was  forty-eight  years  of  age  when  he  made  the 
brilliant  Valley  campaign  of  the  summer  of  1864, 
which  was  halted  only  by  the  superior  forces  of 
Sheridan.  A  West  Point  graduate  and  a  veteran  of 
the  Mexican  WTar,  Early  became,  after  the  death  of 
Jackson,  one  of  Lee's  most  efficient  subordinates. 
He  was  alert,  aggressive,  resourceful.  His  very 
eccentricities,  perhaps,  made  him  all  the  more  suc 
cessful  as  a  commander  of  troops  in  the  field.  "Old 
Jube's"  caustic  writ  and  austere  ways  made  him  a 
terror  to  stragglers,  and  who  shall  say  that  his  fluent, 
forcible  profanity  did  not  endear  him  to  men 
who  were  accustomed  to  like  roughness  of  speech? 


Ire  Hast  (Ennfltrte  in 


the  afternoon  General  Wright  sent  out  General  Wheaton  with 
Bidwell's  brigade  of  Getty's  division,  and  Early's  pickets  and 
skirmishers  were  driven  back  a  mile. 

This  small  engagement  had  many  distinguished  spec 
tators.  Pond  in  "  The  Shenandoah  Valley  "  thus  describes 
the  scene:  "On  the  parapet  of  Fort  Stevens  stood  the  tall 
form  of  Abraham  Lincoln  by  the  side  of  General  Wright,  who 
in  vain  warned  the  eager  President  that  his  position  was  swept 
by  the  bullets  of  sharpshooters,  until  an  officer  was  shot  down 
within  three  feet  of  him,  when  he  reluctantly  stepped  below. 
Sheltered  from  the  line  of  fire,  Cabinet  officers  and  a  group  of 
citizens  and  ladies,  breathless  with  excitement,  watched  the 
fortunes  of  the  flight." 

Under  cover  of  night  the  Confederates  began  to  retrace 
their  steps  and  made  their  way  to  the  Shenandoah,  with  Gen 
eral  Wright  in  pursuit.  As  the  Confederate  army  was  cross 
ing  that  stream,  at  Snicker's  Ferry,  on  the  18th,  the  pursuing 
Federals  came  upon  them.  Early  turned,  repulsed  them,  and 
continued  on  his  way  to  Winchester,  where  General  Averell, 
from  Hunter's  forces,  now  at  Harper's  Ferry,  attacked  them 
with  his  cavalry  and  took  several  hundred  prisoners. 

The  Federal  authorities  were  looking  for  a  "  man  of  the 
hour  "  —one  whom  they  might  pit  against  the  able  and  stra 
tegic  Early.  Such  a  one  was  found  in  General  Philip  Henry 
Sheridan,  whom  some  have  called  the  "  Marshal  Ney  of  Amer 
ica."  He  was  selected  by  General  Grant,  and  his  instructions 
were  to  drive  the  Confederates  out  of  the  Valley  once  for  all. 

The  middle  of  September  found  the  Confederate  forces 
centered  about  Winchester,  and  the  Union  army  was  ten  miles 
distant,  with  the  Opequon  between  them.  At  two  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  September  19th,  the  Union  camp  was  in  mo 
tion,  preparing  for  marching  orders.  At  three  o'clock  the 
forward  movement  was  begun,  and  by  daylight  the  Federal 
advance  had  driven  in  the  Confederate  pickets.  Emptying 
into  the  Opequon  from  the  west  are  two  converging  streams, 


THE   CAPITOL   AT   WASHINGTON   IN   1863 


When  the  Capitol  at  Washington  was  threatened  by  the  Confederate  armies,  it  was  still  an  unfinished  structure,  betraying  its  incom 
pleteness  to  every  beholder.  This  picture  shows  the  derrick  on  the  dome.  It  is  a  view  of  the  east  front  of  the  building  and  was  taken 
on  July  11,  1863.  Washington  society  had  not  been  wholly  free  from  occasional  "war  scares"  since  the  withdrawal  of  most  of  the 
troops  whose  duty  it  had  been  to  guard  the  city.  Early's  approach  in  July,  1804,  found  the  Nation's  capital  entirely  unprotected. 
Naturally  there  was  a  flutter  throughout  the  peaceable  groups  of  non-combatants  that  made  up  the  population  of  Washington  at 
that  time,  as  well  as  in  official  circles.  There  were  less  than  seventy  thousand  people  living  in  the  city  in  1864,  a  large  proportion 
of  whom  were  in  some  way  connected  with  the  Government. 


Hast  (Eonfltrte  in 


•*• 


Sept. 
1864 


forming  a  triangle  with  the  Winchester  and  Martinsburg  pike 
as  a  base. 

The  town  of  Winchester  is  situated  on  this  road,  and  was 
therefore  at  the  bottom  of  the  triangle.  Before  the  town,  the 
Confederate  army  stretched  its  lines  between  the  two  streams. 
The  Union  army  would  have  to  advance  from  the  apex  of  the 
triangle,  through  a  narrow  ravine,  shut  in  by  thickly  wooded 
hills  and  gradually  emerging  into  an  undulating  valley.  At 
the  end  of  the  gorge  was  a  Confederate  outwork,  guarding  the 
approach  to  Winchester.  Both  generals  had  the  same  plan  of 
battle  in  mind.  Sheridan  would  strike  the  Confederate  center 
and  right.  Early  was  willing  he  should  do  this,  for  he  planned 
to  strike  the  Union  right,  double  it  back,  get  between  Sheri 
dan's  army  and  the  gorge,  and  thus  cut  off  its  retreat. 

It  took  time  for  the  Union  troops  to  pass  through  the 
ravine,  and  it  was  late  in  the  forenoon  before  the  line  of  battle 
was  formed.  The  attack  and  defense  were  alike  obstinate. 
Upon  the  Sixth  Corps  and  Grover's  division  of  the  Nineteenth 
Corps  fell  the  brunt  of  the  battle,  since  they  were  to  hold  the 
center  while  the  Army  of  West  Virginia,  under  General  Crook, 
would  sweep  around  them  and  turn  the  position  of  the  op 
posing  forces.  The  Confederate  General  Ramseur,  with  his 
troops,  drove  back  the  Federal  center,  held  his  ground  for 
two  hours,  while  the  opposing  lines  were  swept  by  musketry 
and  artillery  from  the  front,  and  enfiladed  by  artillery.  Many 
Federal  prisoners  were  taken. 

By  this  time,  Russell's  division  of  the  Sixth  Corps  emerged 
from  the  ravine.  Forming  in  two  lines,  it  marched  quickly  to 
the  front.  About  the  same  time  the  Confederates  were  also 
being  reenforced.  General  Rodes  plunged  into  the  fight,  mak 
ing  a  gallant  attack  and  losing  his  life.  General  Gordon,  with 
his  columns  of  gray,  swept  across  the  summit  of  the  hills  and 
through  the  murky  clouds  of  smoke  saw  the  steady  advance  of 
the  lines  of  blue.  One  of  Russell's  brigades  struck  the  Con 
federate  flank,  and  the  Federal  line  was  reestablished.  As  the 


EVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


PROTECTING  LOCOMOTIVES  FROM  THE  CONFEDERATE  RAIDER 

The  United  States  railroad  photographer,  Captain  A.  J.  Russell,  labeled  this  picture  of  1864:  "Engines  stored  in  Washington  to  pre 
vent  their  falling  into  Rebel  hands  in  case  of  a  raid  on  Alexandria."  Here  they  are,  almost  under  the  shadow  of  the  Capitol  dome 
(which  had  just  been  completed).  This  was  one  of  the  precautions  taken  by  the  authorities  at  Washington,  of  which  the  general 
public  knew  little  or  nothing  at  the  time.  These  photographs  are  only  now  revealing  official  secrets  recorded  fifty  years  ago. 


ONE  OF  WASHINGTON'S  DEFENDERS 

Heavy  artillery  like  this  was  of  comparatively  little  use  in  repulsing  such  an  attack  as  Early  might  be  expected  to  make.  Not  only 
were  these  guns  hard  to  move  to  points  of  danger,  but  in  the  summer  of  '64  there  were  no  trained  artillerists  to  man  them.  Big  as 
they  were,  they  gave  Early  no  occasion  for  alarm. 


Hast  OJnnJitrte  in 


*     •*• 


division  moved  forward  to  do  this  General  Russell  fell,  pierced 
through  the  heart  by  a  piece  of  shell. 

The  Fifth  Maine  battery,-  galloping  into  the  field,  unlim- 
bered  and  with  an  enfilading  storm  of  canister  aided  in  turn 
ing  the  tide.  Piece  by  piece  the  shattered  Union  line  was 
picked  up  and  reunited.  Early  sent  the  last  of  his  reserves 
into  the  conflict  to  turn  the  Union  right.  Now  ensued  the 
fiercest  fighting  of  the  day.  Regiment  after  regiment  ad 
vanced  to  the  wood  only  to  be  hurled  back  again.  Here  it 
was  that  the  One  hundred  and  fourteenth  New  York  left 
its  dreadful  toll  of  men.  Its  position  after  the  battle  could 
be  told  by  the  long,  straight  line  of  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  of  its  dead  and  wounded. 

It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon;  the  hour  of  Early's 
repulse  had  struck.  To  the  right  of  the  Union  lines  could  be 
heard  a  mighty  yell.  The  Confederates  seemed  to  redouble 
their  fire.  The  shivering  lightning  bolts  shot  through  the  air 
and  the  volleys  of  musketry  increased  in  intensity.  Then,  across 
the  shell-plowed  field,  came  the  reserves  under  General  Crook. 
Breasting  the  Confederate  torrent  of  lead,  which  cut  down 
nine  hundred  of  the  reserves  while  crossing  the  open  space,  they 
rushed  toward  the  embattled  lines  of  the  South. 

At  the  same  moment,  coming  out  of  the  woods  in  the  rear 
of  the  Federals,  were  seen  the  men  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps 
under  General  Emory,  who  had  for  three  hours  been  lying  in 
the  grass  awaiting  their  opportunity.  The  Confederate  bul 
lets  had  been  falling  thick  in  their  midst  with  fatal  certainty. 
They  were  eager  for  action.  Rushing  into  the  contest  like 
madmen,  they  stopped  at  nothing.  From  two  sides  of  the 
wood  the  men  of  Emory  and  Crook  charged  simultaneously. 
The  Union  line  overlapped  the  Confederate  at  every  point  and 
doubled  around  the  unprotected  flanks.  The  day  for  the 
Southerners  was  irretrievably  lost.  They  fell  back  toward 
Winchester  in  confusion.  As  they  did  so,  a  great  uproar  was 
heard  on  the  pike  road.  It  was  the  Federal  cavalry  under 


1 


e 


ATRIOT   PUB.    CO. 


ENTRANCE  TO  WASHINGTON  FROM  THE  SOUTH— THE  FAMOUS  "CHAIN  BRIDGE" 

The  sentry  and  vedette  guarding  the  approach  to  Washington  suggest  one  reason  why  Early  did  not  make  his  approach  to  the  capital 
from  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac.  A  chain  of  more  than  twenty  forts  protected  the  roads  to  Long  Bridge  (shown  below),  and 
there  was  no  way  of  marching  troops  into  the  city  from  the  south,  excepting  over  such  exposed  passages.  Most  of  the  troops  left  for 
the  defense  of  the  city  were  on  the  Virginia  side.  Therefore  Early  wisely  picked  out  the  northern  outposts  as  the  more  vulnerable. 
Long  Bridge  was  closely  guarded  at  all  times,  like  Chain  Bridge  and  the  other  approaches,  and  at  night  the  planks  of  its  floor  were 
removed. 


LONG  BRIDGE  AND  THE  CAPITOL  ACROSS  THE  BROAD   POTOMAC 


Cast  (Emtfltrts  in 


•*• 


Sept. 
1864 


General  Torbert  sweeping  up  the  road,  driving  the  Confed 
erate  troopers  before  them.  The  surprised  mass  was  pressed 
into  its  own  lines.  The  infantry  was  charged  and  many  pris 
oners  and  battle-flags  captured. 

The  sun  was  now  sinking  upon  the  horizon,  and  on  the 
ascending  slopes  in  the  direction  of  the  town  could  be  seen  the 
long,  dark  lines  of  men  following  at  the  heels  of  the  routed 
army.  Along  the  crest  of  the  embattled  summit  galloped  a 
force  of  cavalrymen,  which,  falling  upon  the  disorganized  regi 
ments  of  Early,  aided,  in  the  language  of  Sheridan,  "  to  send 
them  whirling  through  Winchester."  The  Union  pursuit  con 
tinued  until  the  twilight  had  come  and  the  shadows  of  night 
screened  the  scattered  forces  of  Early  from  the  pursuing  cav 
alrymen.  The  battle  of  Winchester,  or  the  Opequon,  had  been 
a  bloody  one — a  loss  of  five  thousand  on  the  Federal  side,  and 
about  four  thousand  on  the  Confederate. 

By  daylight  of  the  following  morning  the  victorious  army 
was  again  in  pursuit.  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  it  caught 
up  with  the  Confederates,  who  now  turned  at  bay  at  Fisher's 
Hill  to  resist  the  further  approach  of  their  pursuers.  The  posi 
tion  selected  by  General  Early  was  a  strong  one,  and  his  antag 
onist  at  once  recognized  it  as1  such.  The  valley  of  the  Shenan- 
doah  at  this  point  is  about  four  miles  wide,  lying  between 
Fisher's  Hill  and  Little  North  Mountain.  General  Early' s 
line  extended  across  the  entire  valley,  and  he  had  greatly  in 
creased  his  already  naturally  strong  position.  His  army  seemed 
safe  from  attack.  From  the  summit  of  Three  Top  Mountain, 
his  signal  corps  informed  him  of  every  movement  of  the  Union 
army  in  the  valley  below.  General  Sheridan's  actions  indicated 
a  purpose  to  assault  the  center  of  the  Confederate  line.  For 
two  days  he  continued  massing  his  regiments  in  that  direction, 
at  times  even  skirmishing  for  position.  General  Wright  pushed 
his  men  to  within  seven  hundred  yards  of  the  Southern  battle- 
line.  While  this  was  going  on  in  full  view  of  the  Confederate 
general  and  his  army,  another  movement  was  being  executed 


INSIDE 

FORT  TOTTEN— THREE 

SHIFTING  SCENES  IN  A  BIG-GUN  DRILL 

Constant  drill  at  the  guns  went  on  in  the  defenses  of  Washington  throughout  the  war.  At  its  close  in  April,  1865,  there 
were  68  enclosed  forts  and  batteries,  whose  aggregate  perimeter  was  thirteen  miles,  807  guns  and  98  mortars  mounted,  and 
emplacements  for  1,120  guns,  ninety-three  unarmed  batteries  for  field-guns,  35,711  yards  of  rifle-trenches,  and  three  block 
houses  encircling  the  Northern  capital.  The  entire  extent  of  front  of  the  lines  was  thirty -seven  miles;  and  thirty-two  miles 
of  military  roads,  besides  those  previously  existing  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  formed  the  means  of  interior  communica 
tion.  In  all  these  forts  constant  preparation  was  made  for  a  possible  onslaught  of  the  Confederates,  and  many  of  the  troops 
were  trained  which  later  went  to  take  part  in  the  siege  of  Petersburg  where  the  heavy  artillery  fought  bravely  as  infantry. 


SSL 


Hast  QI0nflirt0  in 


which  even  the  vigilant  signal  officers  on  Three  Top  Mountain 
had  not  observed. 

On  the  night  of  September  20th,  the  troops  of  General 
Crook  were  moved  into  the  timber  on  the  north  bank  of  Cedar 
Creek.  All  during  the  next  day,  they  lay  concealed.  That 
night  they  crossed  the  stream  and  the  next  morning  were  again 
hidden  by  the  woods  and  ravines.  At  five  o'clock  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  22d,  Crook's  men  were  nearly  opposite  the  Con 
federate  center.  Marching  his  men  in  perfect  silence,  by  one 
o'clock  he  had  arrived  at  the  left  and  front  of  the  unsuspecting 
Early.  By  four  o'clock  he  had  reached  the  east  face  of  Little 
Xorth  Mountain,  to  the  left  and  rear  of  the  Confederates. 
While  the  movement  was  being  made,  the  main  body  of  the 
Federal  army  was  engaging  the  attention  of  the  Confederates 
in  front.  Just  before  sundown,  Crook's  men  plunged  down 
the  mountain  side,  from  out  of  the  timbered  cover.  The  Con 
federates  were  quick  to  see  that  they  had  been  trapped.  They 
had  been  caught  in  a  pocket  and  there  was  nothing  for  them 
to  do  except  to  retreat  or  surrender.  They  preferred  the 
former,  which  was,  according  to  General  Gordon,  "  first  stub 
born  and  slow,  then  rapid,  then — a  rout." 

After  the  battle  of  Fisher's  Hill  the  pursuit  still  continued. 
The  Confederate  regiments  re-formed,  and  at  times  wrould 
stop  and  contest  the  approach  of  the  advancing  cavalrymen. 
By  the  time  the  Union  infantry  would  reach  the  place,  the 
retreating  army  would  have  vanished.  Torbert  had  been  sent 
down  Luray  Valley  in  pursuit  of  the  Confederate  cavalry,  with 
the  hope  of  scattering  it  and  seizing  New  Market  in  time  to 
cut  off  the  Confederate  retreat  from  Fisher's  Hill.  But  at 
Milford,  in  a  narrow  gorge,  General  Wickham  held  Torbert 
and  prevented  the  fulfilment  of  his  plan ;  and  General  Karly's 
whole  force  was  able  to  escape.  Day  after  day  this  continued 
until  Early  had  taken  refuge  in  the  Blue  Ridge  in  front  of 
Brown's  Gap.  Here  he  received  reenforcements.  Sheridan 
in  the  mean  time  had  gone  into  camp  at  Harrisonburg,  and  for 


Sept. 
1864 


FPI 


1 


•', 


WHERE  LINCOLN   WAS  UNDER  FIRE 


This  is  Fort  Stevens  (originally  known  as  Fort  Massachusetts),  north  of  Washington,  near  the  Soldiers' 
Home,  where  President  Lincoln  had  his  summer  residence.  It  was  to  this  outpost  that  Early 's  troops 
advanced  on  July  12,  1864.  In  the  fighting  of  that  day  Lincoln  himself  stood  on  the  ramparts,  and  a 
surgeon  who  stood  by  his  side  was  wounded.  These  works  were  feebly  garrisoned,  and  General  Gordon 
declared  in  his  memoirs  that  when  the  Confederate  troops  reached  Fort  Stevens  they  found  it  untenanted. 
This  photograph  was  taken  after  the  occupation  of  the  fort  by  Company  F  of  the  Third  Massachusetts 
Artillery. 


Haai  Qtanflirte  in  tip  J^nmtfcoalf 


V, 


some  time  the  two  armies  lay  watching  each  other.  The  Fed 
erals  were  having  difficulty  in  holding  their  lines  of  supply. 

With  the  Valley  practically  given  up  by  Early,  Sheridan 
was  anxious  to  stop  here.  He  wrote  to  Grant,  "  I  think  the 
best  policy  will  be  to  let  the  burning  of  the  crops  in  the  Valley 
be  the  end  of  the  campaign,  and  let  some  of  this  army  go  some 
where  else."  He  had  the  Petersburg  line  in  mind.  Grant's 
consent  to  this  plan  reached  him  on  October  5th,  and  the  fol 
lowing  day  he  started  on  his  return  march  down  the  Shenan- 
doah.  His  cavalry  extended  across  the  entire  valley.  With 
the  unsparing  severity  of  war,  his  men  began  to  make  a  barren 
waste  of  the  region.  The  October  sky  was  overcast  with  clouds 
of  smoke  and  sheets  of  flame  from  the  burning  barns  and  mills. 

As  the  army  of  Sheridan  proceeded  down  the  Valley,  the 
undaunted  cavaliers  of  Early  came  in  pursuit.  His  horsemen 
kept  close  to  the  rear  of  the  Union  columns.  On  the  morning 
of  October  9th,  the  cavalry  leader,  Rosser,  who  had  succeeded 
Wickham,  found  himself  confronted  by  General  Custer's  divi 
sion,  at  Tom's  Brook.  At  the  same  time  the  Federal  general, 
Wesley  Merritt,  fell  upon  the  cavalry  of  Lomax  and  Johnson 
on  an  adjacent  road.  The  two  Union  forces  were  soon  united 
and  a  mounted  battle  ensued.  The  fight  continued  for  two 
hours.  There  were  charges  and  countercharges.  The  ground 
being  level,  the  maneuvering  of  the  squadrons  was  easy.  The 
clink  of  the  sabers  rang  out  in  the  morning  air.  Both  sides 
fought  with  tenacity.  The  Confederate  center  held  together, 
but  its  flanks  gave  way.  The  Federals  charged  along  the 
whole  front,  with  a  momentum  that  forced  the  Southern  cav 
alrymen  to  flee  from  the  field.  They  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
Federal  troopers  over  three  hundred  prisoners,  all  their  artil 
lery,  except  one  piece,  and  nearly  every  wagon  the  Confederate 
cavalry  had  with  them. 

The  Northern  army  continued  its  retrograde  movement, 
and  on  the  10th  crossed  to  the  north  side  of  Cedar  Creek. 
Early 's  army  in  the  mean  time  had  taken  a  position  at  the 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   PATRIOT  PUB.  CO. 

MEN  OF  THE  THIRD  MASSACHUSETTS  HEAVY  ARTILLERY  IN  FORT  STEVENS 

Fort  Stevens,  on  the  north  line  of  the  defenses  of  Washington,  bore  the  brunt  of  the  Confederate  attack  in  the  action  of  July  12, 
1864,  when  Early  threatened  Washington.  The  smooth-bore  guns  in  its  armament  were  two  8-inch  siege-howitzers  en  embrasure,  six 
24-pounder  siege-guns  en  embrasure,  two  24-pounder  sea-coast  guns  en  barbette.  It  was  also  armed  with  five  30-pounder  Parrott 
rifled  guns,  one  10-inch  siege-mortar  and  one  24-pounder  Coehorn  mortar.  Three  of  the  platforms  for  siege-guns  remained  vacant. 


COMPANY  K,  THIRD   MASSACHUSETTS  HEAVY  ARTILLERY,   IN  FORT  STEVENS,   1865 


TYashington  was  no  longer  in  danger  when  this  photograph  was  taken,  and  the  company  is  taking  its  ease  with  small  arms  stacked — 
three  rifles  held  together  by  engaging  the  shanks  of  the  bayonets.  This  is  the  usual  way  of  disposing  of  rifles  when  the  company  is 
temporarily  dismissed  for  any  purpose.  If  the  men  are  to  leave  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  stacks,  a  sentinel  is  detailed  to  guard 
the  arms.  The  Third  Massachusetts  Heavy  Artillery  was  organized  for  one  year  in  August,  1864,  and  remained  in  the  defenses  of  Wash 
ington  throughout  their  service,  except  for  Company  I,  which  went  to  the  siege  of  Petersburg  and  maintained  the  pontoon  bridges. 


wooded  base  of  Fisher's  Hill,  four  miles  away.  The  Sixth 
Corps  started  for  Washington,  but  the  newrs  of  Early  at  Fish 
er's  Hill  led  to  its  recall.  The  Union  forces  occupied  ground 
that  was  considered  practically  unassailable,  especially  on  the 
left,  where  the  deep  gorge  of  the  Shenandoah,  along  whose 
front  rose  the  bold  Massanutten  Mountain,  gave  it  natural 
protection. 

The  movements  of  the  Confederate  army  were  screened  by 
the  wooded  ravines  in  front  of  Fisher's  Hill,  while,  from  the 
summit  of  the  neighboring  Three  Top  Mountain,  its  officers 
could  view,  as. in  a  panorama,  the  entire  Union  camp.  Seem 
ingly  secure,  the  corps  of  Crook  on  the  left  of  the  Union  line 
was  not  well  protected.  The  keen-eyed  Gordon  saw  the  wreak 
point  in  the  Union  position.  Ingenious  plans  to  break  it  down 
were  quickly  made. 

Meanwhile,  Sheridan  was  summoned  to  Washington  to 
consult  with  Secretary  Stanton.  He  did  not  believe  that  Early 
proposed  an  immediate  attack,  and  started  on  the  loth,  escorted 
by  the  cavalry,  and  leaving  General  Wright  in  command.  At 
Front  Royal  the  next  day  word  came  from  Wright  enclosing 
a  message  taken  for  the  Confederate  signal-flag  on  Three  Top 
Mountain.  It  was  from  Longstreet,  advising  Early  that  he 
would  join  him  and  crush  Sheridan.  The  latter  sent  the  cav 
alry  back  to  Wright,  and  continued  on  to  Washington,  whence 
he  returned  at  once  by  special  train,  reaching  Winchester  on 
the  evening  of  the  18th. 

Just  after  dark  on  October  18th,  a  part  of  Early's  army 
under  the  command  of  General  John  B.  Gordon,  with  noiseless 
steps,  moved  out  from  their  camp,  through  the  misty,  autumn 
night.  The  men  had  been  stripped  of  their  canteens,  in  fear 
that  the  striking  of  them  against  some  object  might  reveal 
their  movements.  Orders  were  given  in  low  whispers.  Their 
path  followed  along  the  base  of  the  mountain — a  dim  and  nar 
row  trail,  upon  which  but  one  man  might  pass  at  a  time.  For 
seven  miles  this  sinuous  line  made  its  way  through  the  dark 


1 


//•////£ 


fA 


A  HOUSE  NEAR  WASHINGTON  STRUCK  BY  ONE  OF   EARLY'S  SHELLS 


The  arrival  of  Grant's  trained  veterans  in  July,  1864,  restored  security  to  the  capital  city  after  a  week  of  fright.  The  fact  that  shells 
had  been  thrown  into  the  outskirts  of  the  city  gave  the  inhabitants  for  the  first  time  a  realizing  sense  of  immediate  danger.  This 
scene  is  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Stevens,  on  the  Seventh  Street  road,  not  far  from  the  Soldiers'  Home,  where  President  Lincoln 
was  spending  the  summer.  The  campaign  for  his  reelection  had  begun  and  the  outlook  for  his  success  and  that  of  his  party  seemed 
at  this  moment  as  dubious  as  that  for  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  Grant  had  weakened  his  lines  about  Richmond  in  order  to  protect 
Washington,  while  Lee  had  been  able  to  detach  Early's  Corps  for  the  brilliant  Valley  Campaign,  which  saved  his  Shenandoah  suoplies. 


gorge,  crossing  the  Shenandoah,  and  at  times  passing  within 
four  hundred  yards  of  the  Union  pickets. 

It  arrived  at  the  appointed  place,  opposite  Crook's  camp 
on  the  Federal  right,  an  hour  before  the  attack  was  to  be  made. 
In  the  shivering  air  of  the  early  morning,  the  men  crouched  on 
the  river  bank,  waiting  for  the  coming  of  the  order  to  move 
forward.  At  last,  at  five  o'clock,  it  came.  They  plunged  into 
the  frosty  wrater  of  the  river,  emerged  on  the  other  side, 
marched  in  "  double  quick,"  and  were  soon  sounding  a  reveille 
to  the  sleeping  troops  of  Sheridan.  The  minie  balls  whizzed 
and  sang  through  the  tents.  In  the  gray  mists  of  the  dawn 
the  legions  of  the  South  looked  like  phantom  warriors,  as  they 
poured  through  the  unmanned  gaps.  The  Northerners  sprang 
to  arms.  There  was  a  bloody  struggle  in  the  trenches.  Their 
eyes  saw  the  flames  from  the  Southern  muskets  >  the  men  felt 
the  breath  of  the  hot  muzzles  in  their  faces,  while  the  Confed 
erate  bayonets  were  at  their  breasts.  There  was  a  brief  strug 
gle,  then  panic  and  disorganization.  Only  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  of  this  yelling  and  struggling,  and  two-thirds  of  the 
Union  army  broke  like  a  mill-dam  and  poured  across  the  fields, 
leaving  their  accouterments  of  war  and  the  stiffening  bodies 
of  their  comrades.  Rosser,  with  the  cavalry,  attacked  Custer 
and  assisted  Gordon. 

Meanwhile,  during  these  same  early  morning  hours,  Gen 
eral  Early  had  himself  advanced  to  Cedar  Creek  by  a  more 
direct  route.  At  half-past  three  o'clock  his  men  had  come  in 
sight  of  the  Union  camp-fires.  They  waited  under  cover  for 
the  approach  of  day.  At  the  first  blush  of  dawn  and  before  the 
charge  of  Gordon,  Early  hurled  his  men  across  the  stream, 
swept  over  the  breastworks,  captured  the  batteries  and  turned 
them  upon  the  unsuspecting  Northerners.  The  Federal  gener 
als  tried  to  stem  the  impending  disaster.  From  the  east  of  the 
battlefield  the  solid  lines  of  Gordon  were  now  driving  the  fugi 
tives  of  Crook's  corps  by  the  mere  force  of  momentum.  Aides 
were  darting  hither  and  thither,  trying  to  reassemble  the 


I 


,    REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


GENERAL  SHERIDAN'S  "WINCHESTER3 


"Winchester"  wore  no  such  gaudy  trappings  when  he  sprang  "up  from  the  South,  at  break  of  day"  on  that 
famous  ride  of  October  19, 1864,  which  has  been  immortalized  in  Thomas  Buchanan  Read's  poem.  The  silver- 
mounted  saddle  was  presented  later  by  admiring  friends  of  his  owner.  The  sleek  neck  then  was  dark  with 
sweat,  and  the  quivering  nostrils  were  flecked  with  foam  at  the  end  of  the  twenty-mile  dash  that  brought  hope 
and  courage  to  an  army  and  turned  defeat  into  the  overwhelming  victory  of  Cedar  Creek.  Sheridan  himself 
was  as  careful  of  his  appearance  as  Custer  was  irregular  in  his  field  dress.  He  was  always  careful  of  his  horse, 
but  in  the  field  decked  him  in  nothing  more  elaborate  than  a  plain  McClellan  saddle  and  army  blanket. 


ICast  Qlnttfltrte  in  ilj? 


B 


crumbling  lines.  The  Nineteenth  Corps,  under  Emory,  tried 
to  hold  its  ground;  for  a  time  it  fought  alone,  but  after  a  des 
perate  effort  to  hold  its  own,  it,  too,  melted  away  under  the 
scorching  fire.  The  fields  to  the  rear  of  the  army  were  covered 
with  wagons,  ambulances,  stragglers,  and  fleeing  soldiers. 

The  Sixth  Corps  now  came  to  the  rescue.  As  it  slowly 
fell  to  the  rear  it  would,  at  times,  turn  to  fight.  At  last  it 
found  a  place  where  it  again  stood  at  bay.  The  men  hastily 
gathered  rails  and  constructed  rude  field-works.  At  the  same 
time  the  Confederates  paused  in  their  advance.  The  rattle  of 
musketry  ceased.  There  Avas  scarcely  any  firing  except  for  the 
occasional  roar  of  a  long-range  artillery  gun.  The  Southern 
ers  seemed  willing  to  rest  on  their  well-earned  laurels  of  the 
morning.  In  the  language  of  the  successful  commander,  it  was 
"  glory  enough  for  one  day." 

But  the  brilliant  morning  victory  was  about  to  be  changed 
to  a  singular  afternoon  defeat.  During  the  morning's  fight, 
when  the  Union  troops  were  being  rapidly  overwhelmed  with 
panic,  Rienzi,  the  beautiful  jet-black  war-charger,  wras  bearing 
his  master,  the  commander  of  the  Federal  army,  to  the  field  of 
disaster.  Along  the  broad  valley  highway  that  leads  from 
Winchester,  General  Sheridan  had  galloped  to  where  his  em 
battled  lines  had  been  reduced  to  a  flying  mob.  While  riding 
leisurely  away  from  Winchester  about  nine  o'clock  he  had 
heard  unmistakable  thunder-peals  of  artillery.  Realizing  that 
a  battle  was  on  in  the  front,  he  hastened  forward,  soon  to  be 
met,  as  he  crossed  Mill  Creek,  by  the  trains  and  men  of  his 
routed  army,  coming  to  the  rear  with  appalling  rapidity. 

News  from  the  field  told  him  of  the  crushing  defeat  of 
his  hitherto  invincible  regiments.  The  road  was  blocked  by 
the  retreating  crowds  as  they  pressed  toward  the  rear.  The 
commander  was  forced  to  take  to  the  fields,  and  as  his  steed, 
flecked  with  foam,  bore  him  onward,  the  disheartened  refugees 
greeted  him  with  cheers.  Taking  off  his  hat  as  he  rode,  he 
cried,  "  We  will  go  back  and  recover  our  camps."  The  words 


GENERAL  PHILIP  H.  SHERIDAN  IN  THE  SHENANDOAH  CAMPAIGN 


Two  generations  of  schoolboys  in  the  Northern  States  have  learned  the  lines 
beginning,  "Up  from  the  south  at  break  of  day."  This  picture  represents  Sheri 
dan  in  186-t,  wearing  the  same  hat  that  he  waved  to  rally  his  soldiers  on  that 
famous  ride  from  "Winchester,  twenty  miles  away."  As  he  reined  up  his  panting 
horse  on  the  turnpike  at  Cedar  Creek,  he  received  salutes  from  two  future  Presi 
dents  of  the  United  States.  The  position  on  the  left  of  the  road  was  held  by 
Colonel  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  who  had  succeeded,  after  the  rout  of  the  Eighth 
Corps  in  the  darkness  of  the  early  morning,  in  rallying  some  fighting  groups  of 
his  own  brigade  ;  while  on  the  right  stood  Major  William  McKinley,  gallantly 
commanding  the  remnant  of  his  fighting  regiment — the  Twenty-third  Ohio. 


Qlnnfltrte  in 


Oct. 
1864 


seemed  to  inspire  the  demoralized  soldiers.  Stragglers  fell 
into  line  behind  him;  men  turned  to  follow  their  magnetic 
leader  back  to  the  fight. 

Vaulting  his  horse  over  the  low  barricade  of  rails,  he 
dashed  to  the  crest  of  the  field.  There  was  a  flutter  along  the 
battle-line.  The  men  from  behind  their  protecting  wall  broke 
into  thunderous  cheers.  From  the  rear  of  the  soldiers  there 
suddenly  arose,  as  from  the  earth,  a  line  of  the  regimental  flags, 
which  waved  recognition  to  their  leader.  Color-bearers  reas 
sembled.  The  straggling  lines  re-formed.  Early  made  an 
other  assault  after  one  o'clock,  but  was  easily  repulsed. 

It  was  nearly  four  o'clock  when  the  order  for  the  Federal 
advance  was  given.  General  Sheridan,  hat  in  hand,  rode  in 
front  of  his  infantry  line  that  his  men  might  see  him.  The 
Confederate  forces  now  occupied  a  series  of  wooded  crests. 
From  out  of  the  shadow  of  one  of  these  timbered  coverts,  a  col 
umn  of  gray  was  emerging.  The  Union  lines  stood  waiting 
for  the  impending  crash.  It  came  in  a  devouring  succession 
of  volleys  that  reverberated  into  a  deep  and  sullen  roar.  The 
Union  infantry  rose  as  one  man  and  passed  in  among  the  trees. 
Not  a  shot  was  heard.  Then,  suddenly,  there  came  a  scream 
ing,  humming  rush  of  shell,  a  roar  of  musketry  mingling  with 
the  yells  of  a  successful  charge.  Again  the  firing  ceased,  except 
for  occasional  outbursts.  The  Confederates  had  taken  a  new 
position  and  reopened  with  a  galling  fire.  General  Sheridan 
dashed  along  the  front  of  his  lines  in  personal  charge  of  the 
attack.  Again  his  men  moved  toward  the  lines  of  Early's 
fast  thinning  ranks.  It  was  the  final  charge.  The  Union 
cavalry  swept  in  behind  the  fleeing  troops  of  Early  and  sent, 
again,  his  veteran  army  "  whirling  up  the  Valley." 

The  battle  of  Cedar  Creek  was  ended;  the  tumult  died 
away.  The  Federal  loss  had  been  about  fifty-seven  hundred; 
the  Confederate  over  three  thousand.  Fourteen  hundred 
Union  prisoners  were  sent  to  Richmond.  Never  again  would 
the  gaunt  specter  of  war  hover  over  Washington. 


FROM 
THE  ARMY 

TO  THE 
WHITE  HOUSE 

War-time  portraits  of 
six  soldiers  whose 
military   records 
assisted  them 
to  the  Pres 
idential 
Chair. 


Garfield  in   '03— (left  to  right)  Thomas,  Wiles,  Tyler,  Simmons,  Drillard,  Ducat,  Barnett,  Goddard, 
Rosecrans,  Garfield,  Porter,  Bond,  Thompson,  Sheridan. 


Brig.-Gen.  Andrew  Johnson, 
President,  186J-G9. 


General  Ulysses  S.  Grant, 
President,  1869-77. 


Bvt.  Ma j. -Gen.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes, 
President,  1877-81. 


Maj.-Gen.  James  A.  Garfield, 
President,  March  to  September,  1881. 


Bvt.  Brig.-Gen.  Benjamin  Harrison, 
President,  1889-93. 


Brevet  Major  William  McKinley, 
President,  1897-1901. 


wntii/iiwtm 


, 


THE  INVESTMENT  OF  PETERSBURG 

AFTER  the  disastrous  clash  of  the  two  armies  at  Cold 
Harbor,  Grant  remained  a  few  days  in  his  entrench 
ments  trying  in  vain  to  find  a  weak  place  in  Lee's  lines.  The 
combatants  were  now  due  east  of  Richmond,  arid  the  Federal 
general  realized  that  it  would  be  impossible  at  this  time  to 
attain  the  object  for  which  he  had  struggled  ever  since  he 
crossed  the  Rapidan  on  the  4th  of  May — to  turn  Lee's  right 
flank  and  interpose  his  forces  between  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  and  the  capital  of  the  Confederacy.  His  opponent, 
one  of  the  very  greatest  military  leaders  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
has  produced,  with  an  army  of  but  little  more  than  half  the 
number  of  the  Federal  host,  had  successfully  blocked  the 
attempts  to  carry  out  this  plan  in  three  great  battles  and  by  a 
remarkable  maneuver  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  North 
Anna,  which  had  forced  Grant  to  recross  the  river  and  which 
will  always  remain  a  subject  of  curious  interest  to  students 
of  the  art  of  war. 

In  one  month  the  Union  army  had  lost  fifty-five  thousand 
men,  while  the  Confederate  losses  had  been  comparatively 
small.  The  cost  to  the  North  had  been  too  great;  Lee  could 
not  be  cut  off  from  his  capital,  and  the  most  feasible  project 
\vas  nowr  to  join  in  the  move  which  heretofore  had  been  the 
special  object  of  General  Butler  and  the  Army  of  the  James, 
and  attack  Richmond  itself.  South  of  the  city,  at  a  distance 
of  twenty-one  miles,  was  the  town  of  Petersburg.  Its  defenses 
were  not  strong,  although  General  Gillmore  of  Butler's  army 
had  failed  in  an  attempt  to  seize  them  on  the  10th  of  June. 
Three  railroads  converged  here  and  these  were  main  arteries 
of  Lee's  supply.  Grant  resolved  to  capture  this  important 
point.  He  sent  General  W.  F.  Smith,  who  had  come  to  his 
aid  at  Cold  Harbor  with  the  flower  of  the  Army  of  the  James, 


I 


'!    I/' 

'//,} 

'I//. 


MAHOXE,   "THE  HERO  OF  THE  CRATER" 


General  William  Mahone,  C.  S.  A.  It  was  through  the  promptness  and  valor  of  General  Mahone  that  the  Southerners,  on  July  30, 
18&4,  were  enabled  to  turn  back  upon  the  Federals  the  disaster  threatened  by  the  hidden  mine.  On  the  morning  of  the  explosion 
there  were  but  eighteen  thousand  Confederates  left  to  hold  the  ten  miles  of  lines  about  Petersburg.  Everything  seemed  to  favor 
Grant's  plans  for  the  crushing  of  this  force.  Immediately  after  the  mine  was  sprung,  a  terrific  cannonade  was  opened  from  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  guns  and  mortars  to  drive  back  the  Confederates  from  the  breach,  while  fifty  thousand  Federals  stood  ready  to  charge 
upon  the  panic-stricken  foe.  But  the  foe  was  not  panic-stricken  long.  Colonel  McMaster,  of  the  Seventeenth  South  Carolina, 
gathered  the  remnants  of  General  Elliott's  brigade  and  held  back  the  Federals  massing  at  the  Crater  until  General  Mahone  arrived 
at  the  head  of  three  brigades.  At  once  he  prepared  to  attack  the  Federals,  who  at  that  moment  were  advancing  to  the  left  of  the 
Crater.  Mahone  ordered  a  counter-charge.  In  his  inspiring  presence  it  swept  with  such  vigor  that  the  Federals  were  driven  back 
and  dared  not  risk  another  assault.  At  the  Crater,  Lee  had  what  Grant  lacked — a  man  able  to  direct  the  entire  engagement. 


inwsittumt  nf 


back  to  Bermuda  Hundred  by  water,  as  he  had  come,  with 
instructions  to  hasten  to  Petersburg  before  Lee  could  get  there. 
Smith  arrived  on  the  15th  and  was  joined  by  Hancock  with 
the  first  troops  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  appear,  but 
the  attack  was  not  pressed  and  Beauregard  who,  with  only  two 
thousand  men,  was  in  desperate  straits  until  Lee  should  reach 
him,  managed  to  hold  the  inner  line  of  trenches. 

The  last  of  Grant's  forces  were  across  the  James  by  mid 
night  of  June  16th,  while  Lee  took  a  more  westerly  and  shorter 
route  to  Petersburg.  The  fighting  there  was  continued  as  the 
two  armies  came  up,  but  each  Union  attack  was  successfully 
repulsed.  At  the  close  of  day  on  the  18th  both  opponents  were 
in  full  strength  and  the  greatest  struggle  of  modern  times  was 
begun.  Impregnable  bastioned  works  began  to  show  them 
selves  around  Petersburg.  More  than  thirty  miles  of  frowning 
redoubts  connected  extensive  breastworks  and  were  strength 
ened  by  mortar  batteries  and  field-wrorks  which  lined  the  fields 
near  the  Appomattox  River.  It  was  a  vast  net  of  fortifica 
tions,  but  there  was  no  formal  siege  of  Lee's  position,  which 
was  a  new  entrenched  line  selected  by  Beauregard  some  dis 
tance  behind  the  rifle-pits  where  he  had  held  out  at  such  great 
odds  against  Hancock  and  Smith. 

Grant,  as  soon  as  the  army  was  safely  protected,  started  to 
extend  his  lines  on  the  west  and  south,  in  order  to  envelop 
the  Confederate  right  flank.  He  also  bent  his  energies  to 
destroying  the  railroads  upon  which  Lee  depended  for  sup 
plies.  Attempts  to  do  this  were  made  without  delay.  On  June 
22d  two  corps  of  the  Union  army  set  out  for  the  Weldon  Rail 
road,  but  they  became  separated  and  were  put  to  flight  by 
A.  P.  Hill.  The  Federal  cavalry  also  joined  in  the  work,  but 
the  vigilant  Confederate  horsemen  under  W.  H.  F.  Lee 
prevented  any  serious  damage  to  the  iron  way,  and  by  July  2d 
the  last  of  the  raiders  were  back  in  the  Federal  lines,  much  the 
worse  for  the  rough  treatment  they  had  received 

Now  ensued  some  weeks  of  quiet  during  which  both  armies 


WHAT  EIGHT  THOUSAND   POUNDS  OF  POWDER  DID 

The  Crater,  torn  by  the  mine  within  Elliott's  Salient.  At  dawn  of  July  30,  1864,  the  fifty  thousand  Fed 
eral  troops  waiting  to  make  a  charge  saw  a  great  mass  of  earth  hurled  skyward  like  a  water-spout.  As  it 
spread  out  into  an  immense  cloud,  scattering  guns,  carriages,  timbers,  and  what  were  once  human  beings, 
the  front  ranks  broke  in  panic;  it  looked  as  if  the  mass  were  descending  upon  their  own  heads.  The  men 
were  quickly  rallied;  across  the  narrow  plain  they  charged,  through  the  awful  breach,  and  up  the  heights 
beyond  to  gain  Cemetery  Ridge.  But  there  were  brave  fighters  on  the  other  side  still  left,  and  delay  among 
the  Federals  enabled  the  Confederates  to  rally  and  re-form  in  time  to  drive  the  Federals  back  down  the 
steep  sides  of  the  Crater.  There,  as  they  struggled  amidst  the  horrible  debris,  one  disaster  after  another 
fell  upon  them.  Huddled  together,  the  mass  of  men  was  cut  to  pieces  by  the  canister  poured  upon  them 
from  well-planted  Confederate  batteries.  At  last,  as  a  forlorn  hope,  the  colored  troops  were  sent  forward; 
and  they,  too,  were  hurled  back  into  the  Crater  and  piled  upon  their  white  comrades. 


were  strengthening  their  fortifications.  On  June  25th  Sheri 
dan  returned  from  his  cavalry  raid  on  the  Virginia  Central 
Railroad  running  north  from  Richmond.  He  had  encountered 
Hampton  and  Fitzhugh  Lee  at  Trevilian  Station  on  June 
llth,  and  turned  hack  after  doing  great  damage  to  the  railway. 
Ammunition  was  running  short  and  he  did  not  dare  risk 
another  engagement.  Sheridan  was  destined  not  to  remain 
long  with  the  army  in  front  of  Petersburg.  Lee  had  detached 
a  corps  from  his  forces  and,  under  Early,  it  had  been  doing 
great  damage  in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  So  Grant's 
cavalry  leader  was  put  at  the  head  of  an  army  and  sent  to 
the  Shenandoah  valley  to  drive  Early's  troops  from  the  base  of 
their  operations. 

Meanwhile  the  Federals  were  covertly  engaged  in  an 
undertaking  which  was  fated  to  result  in  conspicuous  fail 
ure.  Some  skilled  miners  from  the  upper  Schuylkill  coal 
regions  in  the  Forty-eighth  Pennsylvania  attached  to  the 
Ninth  Corps  were  boring  a  tunnel  from  the  rear  of  the  Union 
works  underneath  the  Confederate  fortifications.  Eight  thous 
and  pounds  of  gunpowder  were  placed  in  lateral  galleries  at 
the  end  of  the  tunnel.  At  twenty  minutes  to  five  on  the  morn 
ing  of  July  30th,  the  mine  was  exploded.  A  solid  mass  of  earth 
and  all  manner  of  material  shot  two  hundred  feet  into  the  air. 
Three  hundred  human  beings  were  buried  in  the  debris  as  it 
fell  back  into  the  gaping  crater.  The  smoke  had  barely  cleared 
away  when  General  Ledlie  led  his  waiting  troops  into  the  vast 
opening.  The  horror  of  the  sight  sickened  the  assailants,  and 
in  crowding  into  the  pit  they  became  completely  demoralized. 
In  the  confusion  officers  lost  power  to  reorganize,  much  less 
to  control,  their  troops. 

The  stunned  and  paralyzed  Confederates  were  not  long  in 
recovering  their  wits.  Batteries  opened  upon  the  approach  to 
the  crater,  and  presently  a  stream  of  fire  was  poured  into  the 
pit  itself.  General  Mahone  hastened  up  with  his  Georgia  and 
Virginia  troops,  and  there  were  several  desperate  charges 


*? 

.---. 

5*-- 


3x 


FORT  MAHONE— "FORT  DAMNATION" 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    PATRIOT   PUB.    CO. 


RIVES'  SALIENT 


TRAVERSES  AGAINST  CROSS-FIRE 


GRACIE'S  SALIENT,  AND    OTHER  FORTS   ALONG   THE   TEN  MILES   OF   DEFENSES 

Dotted  with  formidable  fortifications  such  as  these,  Confederate  works  stretched  for  ten  miles  around  Petersburg.  Fort  Mahone  was 
situated  opposite  the  Federal  Fort  Sedgwick  at  the  point  where  the  hostile  lines  converged  most  closely  after  the  battle  of  the  Crater. 
Owing  to  the  constant  cannonade  which  it  kept  up,  the  Federals  named  it  Fort  Damnation,  while  Fort  Sedgwick,  which  was  no  less 
active  in  reply,  was  known  to  the  Confederates  as  Fort  Hell.  Grade's  salient,  further  north  on  the  Confederate  line,  is  notable  as  the 
point  in  front  of  which  General  John  B.  Gordon's  gallant  troops  moved  to  the  attack  on  Fort  Stedman,  the  last  desperate  effort  of 
the  Confederates  to  break  through  the  Federal  cordon.  The  views  of  Grade's  salient  show  the  French  form  of  chevaux-de-frise,  a 
favorite  protection  against  attack  much  employed  by  the  Confederates. 


* 


* 


before  the  Federals  withdrew  at  Burnside's  order.  Grant  had 
had  great  expectations  that  the  mine  would  result  in  his  cap 
turing  Petersburg  and  he  was  much  disappointed.  In  order 
to  get  a  part  of  Lee's  army  away  from  the  scene  of  what  he 
hoped  would  be  the  final  struggle,  Hancock's  troops  and  a 
large  force  of  cavalry  had  been  sent  north  of  the  James,  as  if 
a  move  on  Richmond  had  been  planned.  In  the  mine  fiasco 
on  that  fatal  July  30th,  thirty-nine  hundred  men  (nearly  all 
from  Burnside's  corps)  were  lost  to  the  Union  side.  The  Con 
federate  loss  was  about  one  thousand. 

In  the  torrid  days  of  mid-August  Grant  renewed  his 
attacks  upon  the  Weldon  Railroad,  and  General  Warren  was 
sent  to  capture  it.  He  reached  Globe  Tavern,  about  four  miles 
from  Petersburg,  when  he  encountered  General  Heth,  who 
drove  him  back.  Warren  did  not  return  to  the  Federal  lines 
but  entrenched  along  the  iron  way.  The  next  day  he  was 
fiercely  attacked  by  the  Confederate  force  now7  strongly  re- 
enforced  by  Mahone.  The  assault  was  most  sudden.  Mahone 
forced  his  way  through  the  skirmish  line  and  then  turned  and 
fought  his  opponents  from  their  rear.  Another  of  his  divisions 
struck  the  Union  right  wing.  In  this  extremity  two  thousand 
of  Warren's  troops  were  captured  and  all  would  have  been 
lost  but  for  the  timely  arrival  of  Burnside's  men. 

Two  days  later  the  Southerners  renewed  the  battle  and 
now  thirty  cannon  poured  volley  after  volley  upon  the  Fifth 
and  Ninth  corps.  The  dashing  Mahone  again  came  forward 
with  his  usual  impetuousness,  but  the  blue  line  finally  drove 
Lee's  men  back.  And  so  the  Weldon  Railroad  fell  into  the 
hands  of  General  Grant.  Hancock,  with  the  Second  Corps, 
returned  from  the  north  bank  of  the  James  and  set  to  work 
to  assist  in  destroying  the  railway,  whose  loss  was  a  hard  blow 
to  General  Lee.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  latter  would 
permit  this  work  to  continue  unmolested  and  on  the  25th  of 
August,  A.  P.  Hill  suddenly  confronted  Hancock,  who 
entrenched  himself  in  haste  at  Ream's  Station.  This  did  not 


TRIOT  PUB.   CO. 


AFTERNOON  CONCERT  AT  THE  OFFICERS'  QUARTERS,  HAREWOOD  HOSPITAL,  NEAR  WASHINGTON 


Hospital  life  for  those  well  enough 
to  enjoy  it  was  far  from  dull. 
Witness  the  white-clad  nurse  with 
her  prim  apron  and  hoopskirt 
on  the  right  of  the  photograph, 
and  the  band  on  the  left.  Most 
hospitals  had  excellent  libraries 
and  a  full  supply  of  current  news 
papers  and  periodicals,  usually 
presented  gratuitously.  Many  of 
the  larger  ones  organized  and 
maintained  bands  for  the  amuse 
ment  of  the  patients;  they  also 
provided  lectures,  concerts,  and 
theatrical  and  other  entertain 
ments.  A  hospital  near  the  front 
receiving  cases  of  the  most  severe 
character  might  have  a  death-rate 
as  high  as  twelve  per  cent.,  while 
those  farther  in  the  rear  might 
have  a  very  much  lower  death- 
rate  of  but  six,  four,  or  even  two 


LOUISA  M.  ALCOTT, 

THE  AUTHOR  OF  "LITTLE  WOMEN." 

AS    A    NURSE    IN    1862 


per  cent.  The  portrait  accom 
panying  shows  Louisa  M.  Alcott, 
the  author  of  "Little  Men," 
"Little  Women,"  "An  Old  Fash 
ioned  Girl,"  and  the  other  books 
that  have  endeared  her  to  millions 
of  readers.  Her  diary  of  1862 
contains  this  characteristic  note: 
"November.  Thirty  years  old. 
Decided  to  go  to  Washington  as  a 
nurse  if  I  could  find  a  place.  Help 
needed,  and  I  love  nursing  and 
must  let  out  my  pent-up  energy  in 
some  new  way."  She  had  not  yet 
attained  fame  as  a  writer,  but  it 
was  during  this  time  that  she 
wrote  for  a  newspaper  the  letters 
afterwards  collected  as  "Hospital 
Sketches."  It  is  due  to  the  cour 
tesy  of  Messrs.  Little,  Brown  & 
Company  of  Boston  that  the  war 
time  portrait  is  here  reproduced. 


of 


Sept. 
1864 


J 


/// 


save  the  Second  Corps,  which  for  the  first  time  in  its  glorious 
career  was  put  to  rout.  Their  very  guns  were  captured  and 
turned  upon  them. 

In  the  following  weeks  there  were  no  actions  of  impor 
tance  except  that  in  the  last  days  of  September  Generals  Ord 
and  Birney,  with  the  Army  of  the  James,  captured  Fort  Har 
rison,  on  the  north  bank  of  that  river,  from  Generals  Ewell 
and  Anderson.  The  Federals  were  anxious  to  have  it,  since 
it  was  an  excellent  vantage  point  from  which  to  threaten  Rich 
mond.  Meanwhile  Grant  was  constantly  extending  his  line 
to  the  west  and  by  the  end  of  October  it  was  very  close  to  the 
South  Side  Railroad.  On  the  27th  there  was  a  hard  fight  at 
Hatcher's  Run,  but  the  Confederates  saved  the  railway  and 
the  Federals  returned  to  their  entrenchments  in  front  of 
Petersburg. 

The  active  struggle  now  ceased,  but  Lee  found  himself 
each  day  in  more  desperate  straits.  Sheridan  had  played  sad 
havoc  with  such  sources  of  supply  as  existed  in  the  rich  country 
to  the  northwest.  The  Weldon  Railroad  was  gone  and  the 
South  Side  line  was  in  imminent  danger.  The  Southerners 
were  losing  heart.  Many  went  home  for  the  winter  on  a 
promise  to  return  when  the  spring  planting  was  done.  Lee 
was  loath  to  let  them  go,  but  he  could  ill  afford  to  maintain 
them,  and  the  very  life  of  their  families  depended  upon  it. 
Those  who  remained  at  Petersburg  suffered  cruelly  from 
hunger  and  cold.  They  looked  forward  to  the  spring,  although 
it  meant  renewal  of  the  mighty  struggle.  The  Confederate  line 
had  been  stretched  to  oppose  Grant's  westward  progress  until 
it  had  become  the  thinnest  of  screens.  A  man  lost  to  Lee  was 
almost  impossible  to  replace,  while  the  bounties  offered  in  the 
North  kept  Grant's  ranks  full. 


s  • 

^ 


[Part  XIV] 


SHERMAN'S  FINAL  CAMPAIGNS 

I  only  regarded  the  march  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah  as  a  "  shift  of 
base,"  as  the  transfer  of  a  strong  army,  which  had  no  opponent,  and  had 
finished  its  then  work,  from  the  interior  to  a  point  on  the  sea  coast,  from 
which  it  could  achieve  other  important  results.  I  considered  this  march 
as  a  means  to  an  end,  and  not  as  an  essential  act  of  war.  Still,  then  as 
now,  the  march  to  the  sea  was  generally  regarded  as  something  extraordi 
nary,  something  anomalous,  something  out  of  the  usual  order  of  events; 
whereas,  in  fact,  I  simply  moved  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah,  as  one  step  in 
the  direction  of  Richmond,  a  movement  that  had  to  be  met  and  defeated, 
or  the  war  was  necessarily  at  an  end, — General  W.  T.  Sherman,  in  his 
"  Memoirs."1"1 


march  to  the  sea,  in  which  General  William  T. 
JL  Sherman  won  undying  fame  in  the  Civil  War,  is  one 
of  the  greatest  pageants  in  the  world's  warfare — as  fearful 
in  its  destruction  as  it  is  historic  in  its  import.  But  this  was 
not  Sherman's  chief  achievement;  it  was  an  easy  task  com 
pared  with  the  great  campaign  between  Chattanooga  and 
Atlanta  through  which  he  had  just  passed.  "  As  a  military 
accomplishment  it  was  little  more  than  a  grand  picnic,"  de 
clared  one  of  his  division  commanders,  in  speaking  of  the 
march  through  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  Sher 
man,  deciding  to  remain  there  for  some  time  and  to  make  it 
a  Federal  military  center,  ordered  all  the  inhabitants  to  be 
removed.  General  Hood  pronounced  the  act  one  of  ingen 
ious  cruelty,  transcending  any  that  had  ever  before  come  to 
his  notice  in  the  dark  history  of  the  war.  Sherman  insisted 
that  his  act  was  one  of  kindness,  and  that  Johnston  and  Hood 
themselves  had  done  the  same — removed  families  from  their 
homes — in  other  places.  The  decision  was  fully  carried  out. 


Jtnal  Campaign* 


Many  of  the  people  of  Atlanta  chose  to  go  southward,  others 
to  the  north,  the  latter  being  transported  free,  by  Sherman's 
order,  as  far  as  Chattanooga. 

Shortly  after  the  middle  of  September,  Hood  moved  his 
army  from  Love  joy's  Station,  just  south  of  Atlanta,  to  the 
vicinity  of  Macon.  Here  Jefferson  Davis  visited  the  encamp 
ment,  and  on  the  22d  he  made  a  speech  to  the  homesick  Army 
of  Tennessee,  which,  reported  in  the  Southern  newspapers, 
disclosed  to  Sherman  the  new  plans  of  the  Confederate  lead 
ers.  These  involved  nothing  less  than  a  fresh  invasion  of  Ten 
nessee,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  President  Davis,  would  put 
Sherman  in  a  predicament  worse  than  that  in  which  Napoleon 
found  himself  at  Moscow.  But,  forewarned,  the  Federal 
leader  prepared  to  thwart  his  antagonists.  The  line  of  the 
Western  and  Atlantic  Railroad  was  more  closely  guarded, 
Divisions  were  sent  to  Rome  arid  to  Chattanooga.  Thomas 
was  ordered  to  Nashville,  and  Schofield  to  Knoxville.  Recruits 
were  hastened  from  the  North  to  these  points,  in  order  that 
Sherman  himself  might  not  be  weakened  by  the  return  of  too 
many  troops  to  these  places. 

Hood,  in  the  hope  of  leading  Sherman  away  from  At 
lanta,  crossed  the  Chattahoochee  on  the  1st  of  October,  de 
stroyed  the  railroad  above  Marietta  and  sent  General  French 
against  Allatoona.  It  was  the  brave  defense  of  this  place  by 
General  John  M.  Corse  that  brought  forth  Sherman's  famous 
message,  "Hold  out;  relief  is  coming,"  sent  by  his  signal 
officers  from  the  heights  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  which 
thrilled  the  North  and  inspired  its  poets  to  eulogize  Corse's 
bravery  in  verse.  Corse  had  been  ordered  from  Rome  to 
Allatoona  by  signals  from  mountain  to  mountain,  over  the 
heads  of  the  Confederate  troops,  who  occupied  the  valley 
between.  Reaching  the  mountain  pass  soon  after  midnight, 
on  October  5th,  Corse  added  his  thousand  men  to  the  nine  hun 
dred  already  there,  and  soon  after  daylight  the  battle  began. 
General  French,  in  command  of  the  Confederates,  first 


BEFORE  THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA 

These  two  photographs  of  General  Sherman  were  taken  in  1864 — the  year  that  made  him  an  inter 
national  figure,  before  his  march  to  the  sea  which  electrified  the  civilized  world,  and  exposed  once  for 
all  the  crippled  condition  of  the  Confederacy.  After  that  autumn  expedition,  the  problem  of  the 
Union  generals  was  merely  to  contend  with  detached  armies, no  longer  with  the  combined  States  of  the 
Confederacy.  The  latter  had  no  means  of  extending  further  support  to  the  dwindling  troops  in  the 
field.  Sherman  was  the  chief  Union  exponent  of  the  tactical  gift  that  makes  marches  count  as  much 
as  fighting.  In  the  early  part  of  1864  he  made  his  famous  raid  across  Mississippi  from  Jackson  to 
Meridian  and  back  again,  destroying  the  railroads,  Confederate  stores,  and  other  property,  and  des 
olating  the  country  along  the  line  of  march.  In  May  he  set  out  from  Chattanooga  for  the  invasion  of 
Georgia.  For  his  success  in  this  campaign  he  was  appointed,  on  August  12th,  a  major-general  in  the 
regular  army.  On  November  12th,  he  started  with  the  pick  of  his  men  on  his  march  to  the  sea. 
After  the  capture  of  Savannah,  December  21st,  Sherman's  fame  wTas  secure;  yet  he  was  one  of  the 
most  heartily  execrated  leaders  of  the  war.  There  is  a  hint  of  a  smile  in  the  right-hand  picture.  The 
left-hand  portrait  reveals  all  the  sternness  and  determination  of  a  leader  surrounded  by  dangers, 
about  to  penetrate  an  enemy's  country  against  the  advice  of  accepted  military  authorities. 


HV — 


Oct. 
1864 


v 


5 


summoned  Corse  to  surrender,  and,  receiving  a  defiant  answer, 
opened  with  his  guns.  Nearly  all  the  day  the  fire  was  terrific 
from  besieged  and  besiegers,  and  the  losses  on  both  sides  were 
very  heavy. 

During  the  battle  Sherman  was  on  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
eighteen  miles  away,  from  which  he  could  see  the  cloud  of 
smoke  and  hear  the  faint  reverberation  of  the  cannons'  boom. 
When  he  learned  by  signal  that  Corse  was  there  and  in  com 
mand,  he  said,  "  If  Corse  is  there,  he  will  hold  out;  I  know 
the  man."  And  he  did  hold  out,  and  saved  the  stores  at  Alla- 
toona,  at  a  loss  of  seven  hundred  of  his  men,  he  himself  being 
among  the  wounded,  while  French  lost  about  eight  hundred. 

General  Hood  continued  to  move  northward  to  Resaca 
and  Dalton,  passing  over  the  same  ground  on  which  the  two 
great  armies  had  fought  during  the  spring  and  summer.  He 
destroyed  the  railroads,  burned  the  ties,  and  twisted  the  rails, 
leaving  greater  havoc,  if  possible,  in  a  country  that  was  already 
a  wilderness  of  desolation.  For  some  weeks  Sherman  fol 
lowed  Hood  in  the  hope  that  a  general  engagement  would 
result.  But  Hood  had  no  intention  to  fight.  He  went  on  to 
the  banks  of  the  Tennessee  opposite  Florence,  Alabama.  His 
army  w&s  lightly  equipped,  and  Sherman,  with  his  heavily 
burdened  troops,  was  unable  to  catch  him.  Sherman  halted 
at  Gaylesville  and  ordered  Schofield,  with  the  Twenty-third 
Corps,  and  Stanley,  with  the  Fourth  Corps,  to  Thomas  at 
Nashville. 

Sherman  thereupon  determined  to  return  to  Atlanta, 
leaving  General  Thomas  to  meet  Hood's  appearance  in  Ten 
nessee.  It  was  about  this  time  that  Sherman  fully  decided  to 
march  to  the  sea.  Some  time  before  this  he  had  telegraphed 
to  Grant:  "  Hood  .  .  .  can  constantly  break  my  roads.  I 
would  infinitely  prefer  to  make  a  wreck  of  the  road  .  .  .  send 
back  all  my  wounded  and  worthless,  and,  with  my  effective 
army,  move  through  Georgia,  smashing  things  to  the  sea." 
Grant  thought  it  best  for  Sherman  to  destroy  Hood's  army 


9 


.' 


/  N 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW  OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  ATLANTA  BANK  BEFORE  THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA 


As  this  photograph  was  taken,  the  wagons  stood  in  the  street  of  Atlanta  ready  to  accompany  the  Federals 
in  their  impending  march  to  the  sea.  The  most  interesting  thing  is  the  bank  building  on  the  corner,  com 
pletely  destroyed,  although  around  it  stand  the  stores  of  merchants  entirely  untouched.  Evidently  there 
had  been  here  faithful  execution  of  Sherman's  orders  to  his  engineers — to  destroy  all  buildings  and  property 
of  a  public  nature,  such  as  factories,  foundries,  railroad  stations,  and  the  like;  but  to  protect  as  far  as  pos 
sible  strictly  private  dwellings  and  enterprises.  Those  of  a  later  generation  who  witnessed  the  growth  of 
Atlanta  within  less  than  half  a  century  after  this  photograph  was  taken,  and  saw  tall  office-buildings  and 
streets  humming  with  industry  around  the  location  in  this  photograph,  will  find  in  it  an  added  fascination. 


(Slampmgtta 


in 


first,  but  Sherman  insisted  that  his  plan  would  put  him  on 
the  offensive  rather  than  the  defensive.  He  also  believed  that 
Hood  would  be  forced  to  follow  him.  Grant  was  finally  won 
to  the  view  that  if  Hood  moved  on  Tennessee,  Thomas  would 
be  able  to  check  him.  He  had,  on  the  llth  of  October,  given 
permission  for  the  march.  Now,  on  the  2d  of  November,  he 
telegraphed  Sherman  at  Rome:  "  I  do  not  really  see  that  you 
can  withdraw  from  where  you  are  to  follow  Hood  without 
giving  up  all  we  have  gained  in  territory.  I  say,  then,  go  on 
as  you  propose."  It  was  Sherman,  and  not  Grant  or  Lin 
coln,  that  conceived  the  great  march,  and  while  the  march 
itself  was  not  seriously  opposed  or  difficult  to  carry  out,  the 
conception  and  purpose  were  masterly. 

Sherman  moved  his  army  by  slow  and  easy  stages  back 
to  Atlanta.  He  sent  the  vast  army  stores  that  had  collected 
at  Atlanta,  which  he  could  not  take  with  him,  as  well  as  his 
sick  and  wounded,  to  Chattanooga,  destroyed  the  railroad 
to  that  place,  also  the  machine-shops  at  Rome  and  other 
places,  and  on  November  12th,  after  receiving  a  final  despatch 
from  Thomas  and  answering  simply,  "  Despatch  received — all 
right,"  the  last  telegraph  line  was  severed,  and  Sherman  had 
deliberately  cut  himself  off  from  all  communication  with  the 
Northern  States.  There  is  no  incident  like  it  in  the  annals  of 
war.  A  strange  event  it  was,  as  Sherman  observes  in  his 
memoirs.  '  Two  hostile  armies  marching  in  opposite  direc 
tions,  each  in  the  full  belief  that  it  was  achieving  a  final  and 
conclusive  result  in  a  great  war." 

For  the  next  two  days  all  was  astir  in  Atlanta.  The 
great  depot,  round-house,  and  machine-shops  were  destroyed. 
Walls  were  battered  down;  chimneys  pulled  over;  machinery 
smashed  to  pieces,  and  boilers  punched  full  of  holes.  Heaps 
of  rubbish  covered  the  spots  where  these  fine  buildings  had 
stood,  and  on  the  night  of  November  15th  the  vast  debris  was 
set  on  fire.  The  torch  was  also  applied  to  many  places  in  the 
business  part  of  the  city,  in  defiance  of  the  strict  orders  of 


"TUNING  UP"— A   DAILY  DRILL   IX  THE  CAPTURED   FORT 

Here  Sherman's  men  are  seen  at  daily  drill  in  Atlanta.  This  photograph  has  an  interest  beyond  most  war  pictures,  for  it  gives 
a  clear  idea  of  the  soldierly  bearing  of  the  men  that  were  to  march  to  the  sea.  There  was  an  easy  carelessness  in  their  appearance 
copied  from  their  great  commander,  but  they  were  never  allowed  to  become  slouchy.  Sherman  was  the  antithesis  of  a  martinet,  but 
he  had,  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  molded  his  army  into  the  "mobile  machine"  that  he  desired  it  to  be,  and  he  was  anxious  to  keep 
the  men  up  to  this  high  pitch  of  efficiency  for  the  performance  of  still  greater  deeds.  No  better  disciplined  army  existed  in  the  world 
at  the  time  Sherman's  "bummers"  set  out  for  the  sea. 


Jttml  Ghmjmtgnii 


Nov. 
1864 


Captain  Poe,  who  had  the  work  of  destruction  in  charge. 
The  court-house  and  a  large  part  of  the  dwellings  escaped 
the  flames. 

Preparations  for  the  great  march  were  made  with  ex 
treme  care.  Defective  wagons  and  horses  were  discarded;  the 
number  of  heavy  guns  to  be  carried  along  was  sixty-five,  the 
remainder  having  been  sent  to  Chattanooga.  The  marching 
army  numbered  about  sixty  thousand,  five  thousand  of  whom 
belonged  to  the  cavalry  and  eighteen  hundred  to  the  artillery. 
The  army  was  divided  into  two  immense  wings,  the  Right, 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  commanded  by  General  O.  O. 
Howard,  and  consisting  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth 
corps,  and  the  Left,  the  Army  of  Georgia,  by  General  Henry 
W.  Slocum,  composed  the  Fourteenth  and  Twentieth  corps. 
Sherman  himself  was  in  supreme  command.  There  were 
twenty-five  hundred  wagons,  each  drawn  by  six  mules;  six 
hundred  ambulances,  with  two  horses  each,  while  the  heavy 
guns,  caissons,  and  forges  were  each  drawn  by  eight  horses. 
A  twenty  days'  supply  of  bread,  forty  of  coffee,  sugar,  and 
salt  was  carried  with  the  army,  and  a  large  herd  of  cattle  was 
driven  on  foot. 

In  Sherman's  general  instructions  it  was  provided  that 
the  army  should  march  by  four  roads  as  nearly  parallel  as 
possible,  except  the  cavalry,  which  remained  under  the  direct 
control  of  the  general  commanding.  The  army  was  directed 
"  to  forage  liberally  on  the  country,"  but,  except  along  the 
roadside,  this  was  to  be  done  by  organized  foraging  parties 
appointed  by  the  brigade  commanders.  Orders  were  issued 
forbidding  soldiers  to  enter  private  dwellings  or  to  commit 
any  trespass.  The  corps  commanders  were  given  the  option 
of  destroying  mills,  cotton-gins,  and  the  like,  and  where  the 
army  was  molested  in  its  march  by  the  burning  of  bridges, 
obstructing  the  roads,  and  so  forth,  the  devastation  should  be 
made  "  more  or  less  relentless,  according  to  the  measure  of 
such  hostility."  The  cavalry  and  artillery  and  the  foraging 


£- 


I 


^^s* 
Ji-S* 


CUTTING  LOOSE   FROM  THE   BASE,   NOVEMBER   12TH 

"On  the  12th  of  November  the  railroad  and  telegraph  communications  with  the  rear  were  broken  and  the  army  stood  detached  from 
all  friends,  dependent  on  its  own  resources  and  supplies,"  writes  Sherman.  Meanwhile  all  detachments  were  marching  rapidly  to 
Atlanta  with  orders  to  break  up  the  railroad  en  route  and  "generally  to  so  damage  the  country  as  to  make  it  untenable  to  the  enemy." 
This  was  a  necessary  war  measure.  Sherman,  in  a  home  letter  written  from  Grand  Gulf,  Mississippi,  May  6,  1863,  stated  clearly 
his  views  regarding  the  destruction  of  property.  Speaking  of  the  wanton  havoc  wrought  on  a  fine  plantation  in  the  path  of  the  army, 
he  added:  "It  is  done,  of  course,  by  the  accursed  stragglers  who  won't  fight  but  hang  behind  and  disgrace  our  cause  and  country.  Dr. 
Bowie  had  fled,  leaving  everything  on  the  approach  of  our  troops.  Of  course,  devastation  marked  the  whole  path  of  the  army,  and 
I  know  all  the  principal  officers  detest  the  infamous  practice  as  much  as  I  do.  Of  course,  I  expect  and  do  bike  corn,  bacon,  ham,  mules, 
and  everything  to  support  an  army,  and  don't  object  much  to  the  using  of  fences  for  firewood,  but  this  universal  burning  and  wanton 
destruction  of  private  property  is  not  justified  in  war." 


•» 


Olampatgna 


Nov. 
1864 


parties  were  permitted  to  take  horses,  mules,  and  wagons  from 
the  inhabitants  without  limit,  except  that  they  were  to  dis 
criminate  in  favor  of  the  poor.  It  was  a  remarkable  military 
undertaking,  in  which  it  was  intended  to  remove  restrictions 
only  to  a  sufficient  extent  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
march.  The  cavalry  was  commanded  by  General  Judson  Kil- 
patrick,  who,  after  receiving  a  severe  wound  at  Resaca,  in 
May,  had  gone  to  his  home  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  in 
New  York,  to  recuperate,  and,  against  the  advice  of  his  physi 
cian,  had  joined  the  army  again  at  Atlanta. 

On  November  15th,  most  of  the  great  army  was  started 
on  its  march,  Sherman  himself  riding  out  from  the  city  next 
morning.  As  he  rode  near  the  spot  where  General  McPher- 
son  had  fallen,  he  paused  and  looked  back  at  the  receding  city 
with  its  smoking  ruins,  its  blackened  walls,  and  its  lonely, 
tenantless  houses.  The  vision  of  the  desperate  battles,  of  the 
hope  and  fear  of  the  past  few  months,  rose  before  him,  as  he 
tells  us,  "  like  the  memory  of  a  dream."  The  day  was  as  per 
fect  as  Nature  ever  gives.  The  men  were  hilarious.  They 
sang  and  shouted  and  waved  their  banners  in  the  autumn 
breeze.  Most  of  them  supposed  they  were  going  directly 
toward  Richmond,  nearly  a  thousand  miles  away.  As  Sher 
man  rode  past  them  they  would  call  out,  "  Uncle  Billy,  I 
guess  Grant  is  waiting  for  us  at  Richmond."  Only  the  com 
manders  of  the  wings  and  Kilpatrick  were  entrusted  with  the 
secret  of  Sherman's  intentions.  But  even  Sherman  was  not 
fully  decided  as  to  his  objective — Savannah,  Georgia,  or  Port 
Royal,  South  Carolina — until  well  on  the  march. 

There  wras  one  certainty,  however — he  was  fully  decided 
to  keep  the  Confederates  in  suspense  as  to  his  intentions.  To 
do  this  the  more  effectually  he  divided  his  army  at  the  start, 
Howard  leading  his  wing  to  Gordon  by  way  of  McDonough 
as  if  to  threaten  Macon,  while  Slocum  proceeded  to  Coving- 
ton  and  Madison,  with  Milledgeville  as  his  goal.  Both  were 
secretly  instructed  to  halt,  seven  days  after  starting,  at  Gor- 


REVIE*  OF   REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  BUSTLE  OF  DEPARTURE  FROM  ATLANTA 


Sherman's  men  worked  like  beavers  during  their  last  few  days 
in  Atlanta.  There  was  no  time  to  be  lost;  the  army  was  gotten 
under  way  with  that  precision  which  marked  all  Sherman's 
movements.  In  the  upper  picture,  finishing  touches  are  being 
put  to  the  railroad,  and  in  the  lower  is  seen  the  short  work 
that  was  made  of  such  public  buildings  as  might  be  of  the 
slightest  use  in  case  the  Confeder 
ates  should  recapture  the  town. 
As  far  back  as  Chattanooga,  while 
plans  for  the  Atlanta  campaign 
were  being  formed,  Sherman  had 
been  revolving  a  subsequent  march 
to  the  sea  in  case  he  was  successful. 
He  had  not  then  made  up  his  mind 
whether  it  should  be  in  the  direction 
of  Mobile  or  Savannah,  but  his 
Meridian  campaign,  in  Mississippi, 
had  convinced  him  that  the  march 
was  entirely  feasible,  and  gradually  he 
worked  out  in  his  mind  its  masterly 
details.  At  seven  in  the  morning 
on  November  16th,  Sherman  rode 
out  along  the  Docatur  road,  passed 
his  marching  troops,  and  near  the 
spot  where  his  beloved  McPherson 
had  fallen,  paused  for  a  last  look  at 
the  city.  "Behind  us,"  he  says, 
"lay  Atlanta,  smouldering  and  in 


ruins,  the  black  smoke  rising  high  in  air  and  hanging  like  a 
pall  over  the  ruined  city."  All  about  could  be  seen  the  glistening 
gun-barrels  and  white-topped  wagons,  "and  the  men  marching 
steadily  and  rapidly  with  a  cheery  look  and  swinging  pace." 
Some  regimental  band  struck  up  "John  Brown,"  and  the  thou 
sands  of  voices  of  the  vast  army  joined  with  a  mighty  chorus  in 
song.  A  feeling  of  exhilaration  per 
vaded  the  troops.  This  marching 
into  the  unknown  held  for  them  the 
allurement  of  adventure,  as  none  but 
Sherman  knew  their  destination. 
But  as  he  worked  his  way  past  them 
on  the  road,  many  a  group  called 
out,  "Uncle  Billy,  I  guess  Grant  is 
waiting  for  us  at  Richmond."  The 
devil-may-care  spirit  of  the  troops 
brought  to  Sherman's  mind  grave 
thoughts  of  his  own  responsibility. 
He  knew  that  success  would  be  re 
garded  as  a  matter  of  course,  but 
should  he  fail  the  march  would  be 
set  down  as  "the  wild  adventure 
of  a  crazy  fool."  He  had  no  in 
tention  of  marching  directly  to 
Richmond,  but  from  the  first  his 
objective  was  the  seacoast,  at 
Savannah  or  Port  Royal,  or  even 
Pensacola,  Florida. 


RUINS  IN  ATLANTA 


don  and  JVIilledgeville,  the  latter  the  capital  of  Georgia,  about 
a  hundred  miles  to  the  southeast.  These  two  towns  were 
about  fifteen  miles  apart. 

General  Hood  and  General  Beauregard,  who  had  come 
from  the  East  to  assist  him,  were  in  Tennessee,  and  it  was 
some  days  after  Sherman  had  left  Atlanta  that  they  heard 
of  his  movements.  They  realized  that  to  follow  him  would 
now  be  futile.  He  was  nearly  three  hundred  miles  away,  and 
not  only  were  the  railroads  destroyed,  but  a  large  part  of  the 
intervening  country  was  utterly  laid  waste  and  incapable  of 
supporting  an  army.  The  Confederates  thereupon  turned 
their  attention  to  Thomas,  who  was  also  in  Tennessee,  and  was 
the  barrier  between  Hood  and  the  Northern  States. 

General  Sherman  accompanied  first  one  corps  of  his 
army  and  then  another.  The  first  few  days  he  spent  with 
Davis'  corps  of  Slocum's  wing.  When  they  reached  Coving- 
ton,  the  negroes  met  the  troops  in  great  numbers,  shouting 
and  thanking  the  Lord  that  "  deliverance  "  had  come  at  last. 
As  Sherman  rode  along  the  streets  they  would  gather  around 
his  horse  and  exhibit  every  evidence  of  adoration. 

The  foraging  parties  consisted  of  companies  of  fifty  men. 
Their  route  for  the  day  in  which  they  obtained  supplies  was 
usually  parallel  to  that  of  the  army,  five  or  six  miles  from  it. 
They  would  start  out  before  daylight  in  the  morning,  many 
of  them  on  foot;  but  when  they  rejoined  the  column  in  the 
evening  they  were  no  longer  afoot.  They  were  astride  mules, 
horses,  in  family  carriages,  farm  wagons,  and  mule  carts, 
which  they  packed  with  hams,  bacon,  vegetables,  chickens, 
ducks,  and  every  imaginable  product  of  a  Southern  farm  that 
could  be  useful  to  an  army. 

In  the  general  orders,  Sherman  had  forbidden  the  soldiers 
to  enter  private  houses ;  but  the  order  was  not  strictly  adhered 
to,  as  many  Southern  people  have  since  testified.  Sherman 
declares  in  his  memoirs  that  these  acts  of  pillage  and  violence 
were  exceptional  and  incidental.  On  one  occasion  Sherman 


1 


V 

//  fl 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  GUNS  THAT  SHERMAN  TOOK  ALONG 

In  Hood's  hasty  evacuation  of  Atlanta  many  of  his  guns  were  left  behind.  These  12-pounder  Napoleon  bronze  field-pieces  have  been 
gathered  by  the  Federals  from  the  abandoned  fortifications,  which  had  been  equipped  entirely  with  field  artillery,  such  as  these.  It 
was  an  extremely  useful  capture  for  Sherman's  army,  whose  supply  of  artillery  had  been  somewhat  limited  during  the  siege,  and  still 
further  reduced  by  the  necessity  to  fortify  Atlanta.  On  the  march  to  the  sea  Sherman  took  with  him  only  sixty-five  field-pieces. 
The  Negro  refugees  in  the  lower  picture  recall  an  embarrassment  of  the  march  to  the  sea.  "Negroes  of  all  sizes"  flocked  in  the  army's 
path  and  stayed  there,  a  picturesque  procession,  holding  tightly  to  the  skirts  of  the  army  which  they  believed  had  come  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  setting  them  free.  The  cavalcade  of  Negroes  soon  became  so  numerous  that  Sherman  became  anxious  for  his  army's  sus 
tenance,  and  finding  an  old  gray-haired  black  at  Covington,  Sherman  explained  to  him  carefully  that  if  the  Negroes  continued  to  swarm 
after  the  army  it  would  fail  in  its  purpose  and  they  would  not  get  their  freedom.  Sherman  believed  that  the  old  man  spread  this 
news  to  the  slaves  along  the  line  of  march,  and  in  part  saved  the  army  from  being  overwhelmed  by  the  contrabands. 


NEGROES  FLOCKING   IN   THE    ARMY'S   PATH 


1- — ' 


saw  a  man  with  a  ham  on  his  musket,  a  jug  of  molasses  under 
his  arm,  and  a  big  piece  of  honey  in  his  hand.  As  the  man 
saw  that  he  was  observed  by  the  commander,  he  quoted  audibly 
to  a  comrade,  from  the  general  order,  "  forage  liberally  on 
the  country."  But  the  general  reproved  him  and  explained 
that  foraging  must  be  carried  on  only  by  regularly  designated 
parties. 

It  is  a  part  of  military  history  that  Sherman's  sole  pur 
pose  was  to  weaken  the  Confederacy  by  recognized  means  of 
honorable  warfare;  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  there  were  a 
great  many  instances,  unknown  to  him,  undoubtedly,  of  cow 
ardly  hold-ups  of  the  helpless  inhabitants,  or  ransacking  of 
private  boxes  and  drawers  in  search  of  jewelry  and  other 
family  treasure.  This  is  one  of  the  misfortunes  of  war — one 
of  war's  injustices.  Such  practices  always  exist  even  under 
the  most  rigid  discipline  in  great  armies,  and  the  jubilation 
of  this  march  was  such  that  human  nature  asserted  itself  in 
the  license  of  warfare  more  than  on  most  other  occasions. 
General  Washington  met  with  similar  situations  in  the  Amer 
ican  Revolution.  The  practice  is  never  confined  to  either  army 
in  warfare. 

Opposed  to  Sherman  were  Wheeler's  cavalry,  and  a  large 
portion  of  the  Georgia  State  troops  which  were  turned  over 
by  General  G.  W.  Smith  to  General  Howell  Cobb.  Kilpat- 
rick  and  his  horsemen,  proceeding  toward  Macon,  were  con 
fronted  by  Wheeler  and  Cobb,  but  the  Federal  troopers  drove 
them  back  into  the  town.  However,  they  issued  forth  again, 
and  on  November  21st  there  was  a  sharp  engagement  with 
Kilpatrick  at  Griswoldville.  The  following  day  the  Con 
federates  were  definitely  checked  and  retreated. 

The  night  of  November  22d,  Sherman  spent  in  the  home 
of  General  Cobb,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the  United  States 
Congress  and  of  Buchanan's  Cabinet.  Thousands  of  soldiers 
encamped  that  night  on  Cobb's  plantation,  using  his  fences 
for  camp-fire  fuel.  By  Sherman's  order,  everything  on  the 


y~\ 


The  task  of  General  Hardee  in  defending 
Savannah  was  one  of  peculiar  difficulty. 
He  had  only  eighteen  thousand  men,  and 
he  was  uncertain  where  Sherman  would 
strike.  Some  supposed  that  Sherman 
would  move  at  once  upon  Charleston, 
but  Hardee  argued  that  the  Union  army 
would  have  to  establish  a  new  base  of 
supplies  on  the  seacoast  before  attempt 
ing  to  cross  the  numerous  deep  rivers 
and  swamps  of  South  Caiolina.  Har- 
dee's  task  therefore  was  to  hold  Savan 
nah  just  as  long  as  possible,  and  then  to 
withdraw  northward  to  unite  with  the 
troops  which  General  Bragg  was  as 
sembling,  and  with  the  detachments 
scattered  at  this  time  over  the  Carolinas. 
In  protecting  his  position  around  Savan 
nah,  Fort  McAllister  was  of  prime  im 
portance,  since  it  commanded  the  Great 
Ogeechee  River  in  such  a  way  as  to  pre 
vent  the  approach  of  the  Federal  fleet, 


THE  DEFENDER  OF  SAVANNAH 


Sherman's  dependence  for  supplies.  It 
was  accordingly  manned  by  a  force  of 
two  hundred  under  command  of  Major 
G.  W.  Anderson,  provided  with  fifty 
days'  rations  for  use  in  case  the  work 
became  isolated.  This  contingency  did 
not  arrive.  About  noon  of  December 
l.'3th,  Major  Anderson's  men  saw  troops 
in  blue  moving  about  in  the  woods. 
The  number  increased.  The  artillery 
on  the  land  side  of  the  fort  was  turned 
upon  them  as  they  advanced  from  one 
position  to  another,  and  sharpshooters 
picked  off  some  of  their  officers.  At 
half-past  four  o'clock,  however,  the 
long-expected  charge  was  made  from 
three  different  directions,  so  that  the 
defenders,  too  few  in  number  to  hold 
the  whole  line,  were  soon  overpowered. 
Hardee  now  had  to  consider  more  nar 
rowly  the  best  time  fcr  withdrawing 
from  the  lines  at  Savannah. 


FORT  MCALLISTER— THE  LAST  BARRIER  TO  THE  SEA 


I^rman's  3fftttal  (Eampatgtta 


Nov. 
1864 


plantation  movable  or  destructible  was  carried  away  next  day, 
or  destroyed.  Such  is  the  price  of  war. 

By  the  next  night  both  corps  of  the  Left  Wing  were 
at  Milledgeville,  and  on  the  24th  started  for  Sandersville. 
Howard's  wing  was  at  Gordon,  and  it  left  there  on  the  day 
that  Slocum  moved  from  Milledgeville  for  Irwin's  Cross 
roads.  A  hundred  miles  below  Milledgeville  was  a  place  called 
Millen,  and  here  were  many  Federal  prisoners  which  Sherman 
greatly  desired  to  release.  With  this  in  view  he  sent  Kilpat- 
rick  toward  Augusta  to  give  the  impression  that  the  army  was 
marching  thither,  lest  the  Confederates  should  remove  the  pris 
oners  from  Millen.  Kilpatrick  had  reached  Waynesboro  when 
he  learned  that  the  prisoners  had  been  taken  away.  Here  he 
again  encountered  the  Confederate  cavalry  under  General 
Wheeler.  A  sharp  fight  ensued  and  Kilpatrick  drove  Wheeler 
through  the  town  toward  Augusta.  As  there  was  no  further 
need  of  making  a  feint  on  Augusta,  Kilpatrick  turned  back 
toward  the  Left  Wing.  Wheeler  quickly  followed  and  at 
Thomas'  Station  nearly  surrounded  him,  but  Kilpatrick  cut  his 
way  out.  Wheeler  still  pressed  on  and  Kilpatrick  chose  a  good 
position  at  Buck  Head  Creek,  dismounted,  and  threw  up  breast 
works.  Wheeler  attacked  desperately,  but  was  repulsed,  and 
Kilpatrick,  after  being  reenforced  by  a  brigade  from  Davis' 
corps,  joined  the  Left  Wing  at  Louisville. 

On  the  whole,  the  great  march  was  but  little  disturbed  by 
the  Confederates.  The  Georgia  militia,  probably  ten  thou 
sand  in  all,  did  what  they  could  to  defend  their  homes  and 
their  firesides;  but  their  endeavors  were  futile  against  the  vast 
hosts  that  were  sweeping  through  the  country.  In  the  skir 
mishes  that  took  place  between  Atlanta  and  the  sea  the  militia 
was  soon  brushed  aside.  Even  their  destroying  of  bridges  and 
supplies  in  front  of  the  invading  army  checked  its  progress 
but  for  a  moment,  as  it  was  prepared  for  every  such  emergency. 
Wheeler,  with  his  cavalry,  caused  more  trouble,  and  engaged 
Kilpatrick's  attention  a  large  part  of  the  time.  But  even  he 


COPYR.GHT,  1911.   REVIEV1 


WATERFRONT    AT    SAVANNAH,    1865 


Savannah  was  better  protected  by  nature  from  attack  by  land  or  water  than  any  other  city  near  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  Stretch 
ing  to  the  north,  east,  and  southward  lay  swamps  and  morasses  through  which  ran  the  river-approach  of  twelve  miles  to  the  town. 
Innumerable  small  creeks  separated  the  marshes  into  islands  over  which  it  was  out  of  the  question  for  an  army  to  march  without 
first  building  roads  and  bridging  miles  of  waterways.  The  Federal  fleet  had  for  months  been  on  the  blockade  off  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  and  Savannah  had  been  closed  to  blockade  runners  since  the  fall  of  Fort  Pulaski  in  April,  1862.  But  obstructions  and  power 
ful  batteries  held  the  river,  and  Fort  McAllister,  ten  miles  to  the  south,  on  the  Ogeechee,  still  held  the  city  safe  in  its  guardianship. 


FORT  MCALLISTER,  THAT  HELD  THE  FLEET  AT  BAY 


"(^ 


Jtnal  Ohmpmgtts 


Nov. 

1864: 


did  not  seriously  retard  the  irresistible  progress  of  the  legions 
of  the  North. 

The  great  army  kept  on  its  way  by  various  routes,  cover 
ing  about  fifteen  miles  a  day,  and  leaving  a  swath  of  destruc 
tion,  from  forty  to  sixty  miles  wide,  in  its  wake.  Among 
the  details  attendant  upon  the  march  to  the  sea  was  that  of 
scientifically  destroying  the  railroads  that  traversed  the  region. 
Battalions  of  engineers  had  received  special  instruction  in  the 
art,  together  with  the  necessary  implements  to  facilitate  rapid 
work.  But  the  infantry  soon  entered  this  service,  too,  and  it 
was  a  common  sight  to  see  a  thousand  soldiers  in  blue  stand 
ing  beside  a  stretch  of  railway,  and,  when  commanded,  bend 
as  one  man  and  grasp  the  rail,  and  at  a  second  command  to 
raise  in  unison,  which  brought  a  thousand  railroad  ties  up  on 
end.  Then  the  men  fell  upon  them,  ripping  rail  and  tie  apart, 
the  rails  to  be  heated  to  a  white  heat  and  bent  in  fantastic 
shapes  about  some  convenient  tree  or  other  upright  column, 
the  ties  being  used  as  the  fuel  with  which  to  make  the  fires. 
All  public  buildings  that  might  have  a  military  use  wrere 
burned,  together  with  a  great  number  of  private  dwellings 
and  barns,  some  by  accident,  others  wantonly.  This  fertile 
and  prosperous  region,  after  the  army  had  passed,  was  a  scene 
of  ruin  and  desolation. 

As  the  army  progressed,  throngs  of  escaped  slaves  fol 
lowed  in  its  trail,  "  from  the  baby  in  arms  to  the  old  negro 
hobbling  painfully  along,"  says  General  Howard,  "  negroes 
of  all  sizes,  in  all  sorts  of  patched  costumes,  with  carts  and 
broken-down  horses  and  mules  to  match."  Many  of  the  old 
negroes  found  it  impossible  to  keep  pace  with  the  army  for 
many  days,  and  having  abandoned  their  homes  and  masters 
who  could  have  cared  for  them,  they  were  left  to  die  of  hun 
ger  and  exposure  in  that  naked  land. 

After  the  Ogeechee  River  was  crossed,  the  character  of 
the  country  was  greatly  changed  from  that  of  central  Georgia. 
No  longer  were  there  fertile  farms,  laden  with  their  Southern 


THE   FIFTEEN  MINUTES'   FIGHT 

Across  these  ditches  at  Fort  McAllister,  through  entangling  abatis,  over  palisading,  the  Federals  had  to  fight  every  inch  of  their  way 
against  the  Confederate  garrison  up  to  the  very  doors  of  their  bomb-proofs,  before  the  defenders  yielded  on  December  13th.  Sherman 
had  at  once  perceived  that  the  position  could  be  carried  only  by  a  land  assault.  The  fort  was  strongly  protected  by  ditches,  pali 
sades,  and  plentiful  abatis;  marshes  and  streams  covered  its  flanks,  but  Sherman's  troops  knew  that  shoes  and  clothing  and  abundant 
rations  were  waiting  for  them  just  beyond  it,  and  had  any  of  them  been  asked  if  they  could  take  the  fort  their  reply  would  have  been  in 
the  words  of  the  poem :  "  Ain't  we  simply  got  to  take  it?  "  Sherman  selected  for  the  honor  of  the  assault  General  Hazen's  second  division 
of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  the  same  which  he  himself  had  commanded  at  Shiloh  and  Vicksburg.  Gaily  the  troops  crossed  the  bridge 
on  the  morning  of  the  13th.  Sherman  was  watching  anxiously  through  his  glass  late  in  the  afternoon  when  a  Federal  steamer  came 
up  the  river  and  signaled  the  query:  "Is  Fort  McAllister  taken?"  To  which  Sherman  sent  reply:  "Not  yet,  but  it  will  be  in  a  minute." 
At  that  instant  Sherman  saw  Hazen's  troops  emerge  from  the  woods  before  the  fort,  "the  lines  dressed  as  on  parade,  with  colors  flying." 
Immediately  dense  clouds  of  smoke  belching  from  the  fort  enveloped  the  Federals.  There  was  a  pause;  the  smoke  cleared  away,  and, 
says  Sherman,  "the  parapets  were  blue  with  our  men."  Fort  McAllister  was  taken. 


harvests  of  corn  and  vegetables,  but  rather  rice  plantations  and 
great  pine  forests,  the  solemn  stillness  of  which  was  broken 
by  the  tread  of  thousands  of  troops,  the  rumbling  of  wagon- 
trains,  and  by  the  shouts  and  music  of  the  marching  men  and 
of  the  motley  crowd  of  negroes  that  followed. 

Day  by  day  Sherman  issued  orders  for  the  progress  of 
the  wings,  but  on  December  2d  they  contained  the  decisive 
words,  "  Savannah."  What  a  tempting  prize  was  this  fine 
Southern  city,  and  how  the  Northern  commander  would  add 
to  his  laurels  could  he  effect  its  capture !  The  memories  cling 
ing  about  the  historic  old  town,  with  its  beautiful  parks  and  its 
magnolia-lined  streets,  are  part  of  the  inheritance  of  not  only 
the  South,  but  of  all  America.  Here  Oglethorpe  had  bartered 
with  the  wild  men  of  the  forest,  and  here,  in  the  days  of  the 
Revolution,  Count  Pulaski  and  Sergeant  Jasper  had  given 
up  their  lives  in  the  cause  of  liberty. 

Sherman  had  partially  invested  the  city  before  the  middle 
of  December;  but  it  was  well  fortified  and  he  refrained  from 
assault.  General  Hardee,  sent  by  Hood  from  Tennessee,  had 
command  of  the  defenses,  with  about  eighteen  thousand  men. 
And  there  was  Fort  McAllister  on  the  Ogeechee,  protecting 
the  city  on  the  south.  But  this  obstruction  to  the  Federals 
was  soon  removed.  General  Hazen's  division  of  the  Fifteenth 
Corps  was  sent  to  capture  the  fort.  At  five  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  13th  Hazen's  men  rushed  through  a  shower 
of  grape,  over  abatis  and  hidden  torpedoes,  scaled  the  parapet 
and  captured  the  garrison.  That  night  Sherman  boarded  the 
Dandelion,  a  Union  vessel,  in  the  river,  and  sent  a  message  to 
the  outside  world,  the  first  since  he  had  left  Atlanta. 

Henceforth  there  was  communication  between  the  army 
and  the  Federal  squadron,  under  the  command  of  Admiral 
Dahlgren.  Among  the  vessels  that  came  up  the  river  there 
was  one  that  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm  by  the  sol 
diers.  It  brought  mail,  tons  of  it,  for  Sherman's  army,  the 
accumulation  of  two  months.  One  can  imagine  the  eagerness 


m 


'€//, 


A  BIG  GUN  AT  FORT  McALLISTER 

Fort  McAllister  is  at  last  in  complete  possession  of  the  Federals,  and  a  group  of  the  men  who  had  charged  over  these  ramparts  has 
arranged  itself  before  the  camera  as  if  in  the  very  act  of  firing  the  great  gun  that  points  seaward  across  the  marshes,  toward  Ossabaw 
Sound.  There  is  one  very  peculiar  thing  proved  by  this  photograph — the  gun  itself  is  almost  in  a  fixed  position  as  regards  range  and 
sweep  of  fire.  Instead  of  the  elevating  screw  to  raise  or  depress  the  muzzle,  there  has  been  substituted  a  block  of  wood  wedged  with 
a  heavy  spike,  and  the  narrow  pit  in  which  the  gun  carriage  is  sunk  admits  of  it  being  turned  but  a  foot  or  so  to  right  or  left.  It 
evidently  controlled  one  critical  point  in  the  river,  but  could  not  have  been  used  in  lending  any  aid  to  the  repelling  of  General  Hazen's 
attack.  The  officer  pointing  with  outstretched  arm  is  indicating  the  very  spot  at  which  a  shell  fired  from  his  gun  would  fall.  The 
men  in  the  trench  a  re  artillery  men  of  General  Hazen's  division  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps;  their  appearance  in  their  fine  uniforms,  polished 
breastplates  and  buttons,  proves  that  Sherman's  men  could  not  have  presented  the  ragged  appearance  that  they  are  often  pictured  as 
doing  in  the  war-time  sketches.  That  Army  and  Navy  have  come  together  is  proved  also  by  the  figure  of  a  marine  from  the  fleet,  who 
isstandingat  "Attention"  just  above  the  breach  of  the  gun.  Next,  leaning  on  his  saber,  is  a  cavalryman,  in  short  jacket  and  chin-strap. 


\] 


with  which  these  war-stained  veterans  opened  the  longed-for 
letters  and  sought  the  answer  to  the  ever-recurring  question, 
"  How  are  things  at  home?  " 

Sherman  had  set  his  heart  on  capturing  Savannah;  but,  on 
December  15th,  he  received  a  letter  from  Grant  which  greatly 
disturbed  him.  Grant  ordered  him  to  leave  his  artillery  and 
cavalry,  with  infantry  enough  to  support  them,  and  with  the 
remainder  of  his  army  to  come  by  sea  to  Virginia  and  join 
the  forces  before  Richmond.  Sherman  prepared  to  obey,  but 
hoped  that  he  wrould  be  able  to  capture  the  city  before  the 
transports  would  be  ready  to  carry  him  northward. 

He  first  called  on  Hardee  to  surrender  the  city,  with  a 
threat  of  bombardment.  Hardee  refused.  Sherman  hesitated 
to  open  with  his  guns  because  of  the  bloodshed  it  would  occa 
sion,  and  on  December  21st  he  was  greatly  relieved  to  discover 
that  Hardee  had  decided  not  to  defend  the  city,  that  he  had 
escaped  with  his  army  the  night  before,  by  the  one  road  that 
was  still  open  to  him,  which  led  across  the  Savannah  River 
into  the  Carolinas.  The  stream  had  been  spanned  by  an  im 
provised  pontoon  bridge,  consisting  of  river-boats,  with  planks 
from  city  wharves  for  flooring  and  with  old  car-wheels  for 
anchors.  Sherman  immediately  took  possession  of  the  city, 
and  on  December  22d  he  sent  to  President  Lincoln  this  mes 
sage:  "  I  beg  to  present  to  you,  as  a  Christmas  gift,  the  city 
of  Savannah,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  heavy  guns  and  plenty 
of  ammunition,  and  also  about  twenty-five  thousand  bales  of 
cotton."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  guns 
were  captured,  and  thirty-one  thousand  bales  of  cotton.  Gen 
eral  Hardee  retreated  to  Charleston. 

Events  in  the  West  now  changed  Grant's  views  as  to 
Sherman's  joining  him  immediately  in  Virginia.  On  the  16th 
of  December,  General  Thomas  accomplished  the  defeat  and 
utter  rout  of  Hood's  army  at  Nashville.  In  addition,  it  was 
found  that,  owing  to  lack  of  transports,  it  would  take  at  least 
two  months  to  transfer  Sherman's  whole  army  by  sea.  There- 


THE  SPOILS  OF   VICTORY 


THE    TROOPS   THAT    MARCHED 

TO    THE   SEA 
BECOME    DAY-LABORERS 

Here  are  the  men  thai  marched  to  the  sea 
doing  their  turn  as  day-laborers,  gleefully  trun 
dling  their  wheelbarrows,  gathering  up  everything 
of  value  in  Fort  McAllister  to  swell  the  size  of 
Sherman's  "Christmas  present."  Brigadier- 
General  W.  B.  Hazen,  after  his  men  had  suc 
cessfully  stormed  the  stubbornly  defended  fort, 
reported  the  capture  of  twenty-four  pieces  cf 
ordnance,  with  their  equipment,  forty  tons  of 
ammunition,  a  month's  supply  of  food  for  the 
garrison,  and  the  small  arms  of  the  command. 
In  the  upper  picture  the  army  engineers  are 
busily  at  work  removing  a  great  48-pounder 
8-inch  Columbiad  that  had  so  long  repelled  the 
Federal  fleet.  There  is  always  work  enough  and 
to  spare  for  the  engineers  both  before  and  after 
the  capture  of  a  fortified  position.  In  the  wheel 
barrows  is  a  harvest  of  shells  and  torpedoes. 
These  deadly  instruments  of  destruction  had 
been  relied  upon  by  the  Confederates  to  protect 
the  land  approach  to  Fort  McAllister,  which  was 


much  less  strongly  defensible  on  that  side  t!ian 
at  the  waterfront.  While  Sherman's  army  was 
approaching  Savannah  one  of  his  officers  had  his 
leg  blown  off  by  a  torpedo  buried  in  the  road  and 
stepped  on  by  his  horse.  After  that  Sherman 
set  a  line  of  Confederate  prisoners  across  the 
road  to  march  ahead  of  the  army,  and  no  more 
torpedoes  were  found.  Alter  the  capture  of 
Fort  McAllister  the  troops  set  to  work  gingerly 
scraping  about  wherever  the  ground  seemed  to 
have  been  disturbed,  trying  to  find  and  remove 
the  dangerous  hidden  menaces  to  life.  At  last 
the  ground  was  rendered  safe  and  the  troops 
settled  down  to  the  occupation  of  Fort  McAllister 
where  the  bravely  fighting  little  Confederate 
garrison  had  held  the  key  to  Savannah.  The 
city  was  the  first  to  fall  of  the  Confederacy's 
Atlantic  seaports,  now  almost  locked  from  the 
outside  world  by  the  blockade.  By  the  capture 
of  Fort  McAllister,  which  crowned  the  march  to 
the  sea,  Sherman  had  numbered  the  days  of  the 
war.  The  fall  of  the  remaining  ports  was  to 
follow  in  quick  succession,  and  by  Washing 
ton's  Birthday,  1865,  the  entire  coast-line  was 
to  be  in  possession  of  the  Federals. 


-C**v.  ^ 

.        * 


•«i    --      ;    • 

i  • 


v^ 


SHERMAN'S   TROOPS    DISMANTLING    FORT    McALLISTER 


Jfftnal  Qkmpatgtts 


<*• 


fore,  it  was  decided  that  Sherman  should  march  through  the 
Carolinas,  destroying  the  railroads  in  both  States  as  he  went. 
A  little  more  than  a  month  Sherman  remained  in  Savannah. 
Then  he  began  another  great  march,  compared  with  which,  as 
Sherman  himself  declared,  the  march  to  the  sea  was  as  child's 
play.  The  size  of  his  army  on  leaving  Savannah  was  prac 
tically  the  same  as  when  he  left  Atlanta — sixty  thousand.  It 
was  divided  into  two  wings,  under  the  same  commanders, 
Howard  and  Slocum,  and  was  to  be  governed  by  the  same 
rules.  Kilpatrick  still  commanded  the  cavalry.  The  march 
from  Savannah  averaged  ten  miles  a  day,  which,  in  view  of  the 
conditions,  was  a  very  high  average.  The  weather  in  the  early 
part  of  the  journey  was  exceedingly  wet  and  the  roads  were 
well-nigh  impassable.  Where  they  were  not  actually  under 
water  the  mud  rendered  them  impassable  until  corduroyed. 
Moreover,  the  troops  had  to  wade  streams,  to  drag  themselves 
through  swamps  and  quagmires,  and  to  remove  great  trees 
that  had  been  -felled  across  their  pathway. 

The  city  of  Savannah  was  left  under  the  control  of  Gen 
eral  J.  G.  Foster,  and  the  Left  Wing  of  Sherman's  army  under 
Slocum  moved  up  the  Savannah  River,  accompanied  by  Kil 
patrick,  and  crossed  it  at  Sister's  Ferry.  The  river  was  over 
flowing  its  banks  and  the  crossing,  by  means  of  a  pontoon 
bridge,  was  effected  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  The  Right 
Wing,  under  Howard,  embarked  for  Beaufort,  South  Caro 
lina,  and  moved  thence  to  Pocotaligo,  near  the  Broad  River, 
whither  Sherman  had  preceded  it,  and  the  great  march  north 
ward  was  fairly  begun  by  February  1,  1865. 

Sherman  had  given  out  the  word  that  he  expected  to  go 
to  Charleston  or  Augusta,  his  purpose  being  to  deceive  the 
Confederates,  since  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  march  straight 
to  Columbia,  the  capital  of  South  Carolina. 

The  two  wings  of  the  army  were  soon  united  and  they 
continued  their  great  march  from  one  end  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  to  the  other.  The  men  felt  less  restraint  in  devas- 


Feb. 
1865 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,   REVIEW    OF  REVIEWS   CO. 

COLOR-GUARD  OF  THE  EIGHTH  MINNESOTA— WITH  SHERMAN  WHEN  JOHNSTON  SURRENDERED 

The  Eighth  Minnesota  Regiment,  which  had  joined  Sherman  on  his  second  march,  was  with  him  when  Johnston's  surrender  wrote 
"Finis"  to  the  last  chapter  of  the  war,  April  26,  1865.  In  Bennett's  little  farmhouse,  near  Durham's  Station,  N.  C.,  were  begun 
the  negotiations  between  Johnston  and  Sherman  which  finally  led  to  that  event.  The  two  generals  met  there  on  April  17th;  it  was  a 
highly  dramatic  moment,  for  Sherman  had  in  his  pocket  the  cipher  message  just  received  telling  of  the  assassination  of  Lincoln. 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


THE  END  OF  THE  MARCH— BENNETT'S  FARMHOUSE 


Iprmatt'0 


•*• 


tating  the  country  and  despoiling  the  people  than  they  had 
felt  in  Georgia.  The  reason  for  this,  given  by  Sherman  and 
others,  was  that  there  was  a  feeling  of  bitterness  against  South 
Carolina  as  against  no  other  State.  It  was  this  State  that 
had  led  the  procession  of  seceding  States  and  that  had  fired 
on  Fort  Sumter  and  brought  on  the  great  war.  No  doubt 
this  feeling,  which  pervaded  the  army,  will  account  in  part  for 
the  reckless  dealing  with  the  inhabitants  by  the  Federal  sol 
diery.  The  superior  officers,  however,  made  a  sincere  effort 
to  restrain  lawlessness. 

On  February  17th,  Sherman  entered  Columbia,  the  mayor 
having  come  out  and  surrendered  the  city.  The  Fifteenth 
Corps  marched  through  the  city  and  out  on  the  Camden  road, 
the  remainder  of  the  army  not  having  come  within  two  miles 
of  the  city.  On  that  night  Columbia  was  in  flames.  The  con 
flagration  spread  and  ere  the  coming  of  the  morning  the  best 
part  of  the  city  had  been  laid  in  ashes. 

Before  Sherman  left  Columbia  he  destroyed  the  machine- 
shops  and  everything  else  which  might  aid  the  Confederacy. 
He  left  with  the  mayor  one  hundred  stand  of  arms  with  which 
to  keep  order,  and  five  hundred  head  of  cattle  for  the  destitute. 

As  Columbia  was  approached  by  the  Federals,  the  occu 
pation  of  Charleston  by  the  Confederates  became  more  and 
more  untenable.  In  vain  had  the  governor  of  South  Carolina 
pleaded  with  President  Davis  to  reenforce  General  Hardee, 
who  occupied  the  city.  Hardee  thereupon  evacuated  the  his 
toric  old  city — much  of  which  was  burned,  whether  by  design 
or  accident  is  not  known — and  its  defenses,  including  Fort 
Sumter,  the  bombardment  of  which,  nearly  four  years  before, 
had  precipitated  the  mighty  conflict,  were  occupied  by  Colonel 
Bennett,  who  came  over  from  Morris  Island. 

On  March  llth,  Sherman  reached  Fayetteville,  North 
Carolina,  where  he  destroyed  a  fine  arsenal.  Hitherto,  Sher 
man's  march,  except  for  the  annoyance  of  Wheeler's  cavalry, 
had  been  but  slightly  impeded  by  the  Confederates.  But 


COPYRIGHT,   1911,   REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS  CO. 


AN  EMERGENCY  GUNBOAT  FROM  THE  NEW  YORK  FERRY  SERVICE 


This  craft,  the  "  Commodore  Perry,"  was  an  old  New  York  ferryboat  purchased  and  hastily  pressed  into 
service  by  the  Federal  navy  to  help  solve  the  problem  of  patrolling  the  three  thousand  miles  of  coast,  along 
which  the  blockade  must  be  made  effective.  In  order  to  penetrate  the  intricate  inlets  and  rivers,  light- 
draft  fighting- vessels  were  required,  and  the  most  immediate  means  of  securing  these  was  to  purchase  every 
sort  of  merchant  craft  that  could  possibly  be  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  war,  either  as  a  fighting-vessel 
or  as  a  transport.  The  ferryboat  in  the  picture  has  been  provided  with  guns  and  her  pilot-houses  armored. 
A  casemate  of  iron  plates  has  been  provided  for  the  gunners.  The  Navy  Department  purchased  and 
equipped  in  all  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  vessels  in  1861,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  had  increased  the 
number  of  seamen  in  the  service  from  7,600  to  over  22,000.  Many  of  these  new  recruits  saw  their  first, 
active  service  aboard  the  converted  ferryboats,  tugboats,  and  other  frail  and  unfamiliar  vessels  making  up 
the  nondescript  fleet  that  undertook  to  cut  off  the  commerce  of  the  South.  The  experience  thus  gained 
under  very  unusual  circumstances  placed  them  of  necessity  among  the  bravest  sailors  of  the  navy. 


April 
1865 


henceforth  this  was  changed.  General  Joseph  B.  Johnston, 
his  old  foe  of  Resaca  and  Kenesaw  Mountain,  had  been  re 
called  and  was  now  in  command  of  the  troops  in  the  Carolinas. 
No  longer  would  the  streams  and  the  swamps  furnish  the  only 
resistance  to  the  progress  of  the  Union  army. 

The  first  engagement  came  at  Averyshoro  on  March 
16th.  General  Hardee,  having  taken  a  strong  position,  made 
a  determined  stand;  but  a  division  of  Slocum's  wing,  aided 
by  Kilpatrick,  soon  put  him  to  flight,  with  the  loss  of  several 
guns  and  over  two  hundred  prisoners. 

The  battle  of  Bentonville,  which  took  place  three  days 
after  that  of  Averysboro,  was  more  serious.  Johnston  had 
placed  his  whole  army,  probably  thirty-five  thousand  men,  in 
the  form  of  a  V,  the  sides  embracing  the  village  of  Benton 
ville.  Slocum  engaged  the  Confederates  while  Howard  was 
hurried  to  the  scene.  On  two  days,  the  19th  and  20th  of 
March,  Sherman's  army  fought  its  last  battle  in  the  Civil 
War.  But  Johnston,  after  making  several  attacks,  resulting 
in  considerable  losses  on  both  sides,  withdrew  his  army  during 
the  night,  and  the  Union  army  moved  to  Goldsboro.  The 
losses  at  Bentonville  were:  Federal,  1,527;  Confederate,  2,606. 

At  Goldsboro  the  Union  army  was  reenforced  by  its 
junction  with  Schofield,  who  had  come  out  of  the  West  with 
over  twenty-two  thousand  men  from  the  army  of  Thomas  in 
Tennessee.  But  there  was  little  need  of  reenforcement.  Sher 
man's  third  great  march  was  practically  over.  As  to  the  rela 
tive  importance  of  the  second  and  third,  Sherman  declares  in 
his  memoirs,  he  would  place  that  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea  at 
one,  and  that  from  Savannah  through  the  Carolinas  at  ten. 

Leaving  his  army  in  charge  of  Schofield,  Sherman  went 
to  City  Point,  in  Virginia,  where  he  had  a  conference  with 
General  Grant  and  President  Lincoln,  and  plans  for  the  final 
campaign  were  definitely  arranged.  He  returned  to  Golds 
boro  late  in  March,  and,  pursuing  Johnston,  received,  finally, 
on  April  26th  the  surrender  of  his  army. 


y/W 


THE  LAST  PORT  CLOSED 

Fort  Fisher,  captured  January  15,  1865.  With  the  capture  of  Fort  Fisher,  Wilmington,  the  great  importing  depot  of  the  South,  on 
which  General  Lee  said  the  subsistence  of  his  army  depended,  was  finally  closed  to  all  blockade  runners.  The  Federal  navy  con 
centrated  against  the  fortifications  of  this  port  the  most  powerful  naval  force  ever  assembled  up  to  that  time — fifty-five  ships  of  war, 
including  five  ironclads,  altogether  carrying  six  hundred  guns.  The  upper  picture  shows  the  nature  of  the  palisade,  nine  feet  high, 
over  which  some  two  thousand  marines  attempted  to  pass;  the  lower  shows  interior  of  the  works  after  the  destructive  bombardment. 


PATRIOT   PUB.  CO. 


INSIDE  FORT  FISHER— WORK  OF  THE  UNION  FLEET 


CAUGHT   BY   HER   OWN   KIND 


u«~  The  blockade-runner  "A.  D.  Vance."  It  frequently  took  a  blockade-runner  to  catch  a 
4^1  A  blockade-runner,  and  as  the  Federal  navy  captured  ship  after  ship  of  this  character  they 
began  to  acquire  a  numerous  fleet  of  swift  steamers  from  which  it  was  difficult  for  any  vessel 
to  get  away.  The  "Vance"  brought  many  a  cargo  to  the  hungry  Southern  ports,  slipping 
safely  by  the  blockading  fleet  and  back  again  till  her  shrewd  Captain  Willie  felt  that  he 
could  give  the  slip  to  anything  afloat.  On  her  last  trip  she  had  safely  gotten  by  the  Federal 
vessels  lying  off  the  harbor  of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  and  was  dancing  gleefully  on 
her  way  with  a  bountiful  cargo  of  cotton  and  turpentine  when,  on  September  10,  1864, 
in  latitude  34°  N.,  longitude  76°  W.,  a  vessel  was  sighted  which  rapidly  bore  down  upon 
her.  <  It  proved  to  be  the  "Santiago  de  Cuba,"  Captain  O.  S.  Glisson.  The  rapidity  with 
which  the  approaching  vessel  overhauled  him  was  enough  to  convince  Captain  Willie  that 
she  was  in  his  own  class.  The  "Santiago  de  Cuba"  carried  eleven  guns,  and  the  "Vance" 
humbly  hove  to,  to  receive  the  prize-crew  which  took  her  to  Boston,  where  she  was  con 
demned.  In  the  picture  we  see  her  lying  high  out  of  the  water,  her  valuable  cargo  having 
been  removed  and  sold  to  enrich  by  prize-money  the  officers  and  men  of  her  fleet  captor. 


A    GREYHOUND    CAUGHT— WRECK    OF   THE    BLOCKADE-RUNNER    "COLT" 

The  wreck  of  this  blockade-runner,  the  "Colt,"  lies  off  Sullivan's  Island,  Charleston  Harbor,  in 
1865.  The  coast  of  the  Carolinas,  before  the  war  was  over,  was  strewn  with  just  such  sights  as 
this.  The  bones  of  former  "greyhounds"  became  landmarks  by  which  the  still  uncaptured  block 
ade-runners  could  get  their  bearings  and  lay  a  course  to  safety.  If  one  of  these  vessels  were  cut 
off  from  making  port  and  surrounded  by  Federal  pursuers,  the  next  best  thing  was  to  run  her  ashore 
in  shallow  water,  where  the  gunboats  could  not  follow  and  where  her  valuable  cargo  could  be  se 
cured  by  the  Confederates.  A  single  cargo  at  war-time  prices  was  enough  to  pay  more  than  the 
cost  of  the  vessel.  Regular  auctions  were  held  in  Charleston  or  Wilmington,  where  prices  for 
goods  not  needed  by  the  Confederate  Government  were  run  up  to  fabulous  figures.  The  business 
of  blockade-running  was  well  organized  abroad,  especially  in  England.  One  successful  trip 
was  enough  to  start  the  enterprise  with  a  handsome  profit.  A  blockade-runner  like  the  "Kate,' 
which  made  forty  trips  or  more,  would  enrich  her  owners  almost  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice. 


THE 
CONFEDERATE 

RAM 
"STONEWALL" 

Here  are  two  striking 
views  in  the  Port  Royal 
dry-dock  of  the  Confed 
erate  ram  "Stonewall." 
"When  this  powerful 
fighting-ship  sailed  from 
Copenhagen,  Jan.  6, 
1805,  under  command  of 
Capt.T.J.  Page,C.S.N., 
the  Federal  navy  became 
confronted  by  its  most 
formidable  antagonist 
during  the  war.  In 
March,  1803,  the  Con 
federacy  had  negotiated 
a  loan  of  £3,000,000, 
and  being  thus  at  last 

in  possession  of  the  necessary  funds,  Captain  Bulloch  and  Mr.  Slidell  arranged  with  M.  Arman,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Corps-Lcgislatif 
and  proprietor  of  a  large  shipyard  at  Bordeaux,  for  the  construction  of  ironclad  ships  of  war.  Mr.  Slidell  had  already  received  assur 
ances  from  persons  in  the  confidence  of  Napoleon  III  that  the  building  cf  the  ships  in  the  French  yards  would  not  be  interfered  with, 
and  that  getting  them  to  sea  would  be  connived  at  by  the  Government.  Owing  to  the  indubitable  proof  laid  before  the  Emperor 
by  the  Federal  diplomats  at  Paris,  he  was  compelled  to  revoke  the  guarantee  that  had  been  given  to  Slidell  and  Bulloch.  A  plan  was 
arranged,  however,  by  which  M.  Arman  should  sell  the  vessels  to  various  European  powers;  and  he  disposed  of  the  ironclad  ram 
"  Sphinx  "  to  the  Danish  Government,  then  at  war  with  Prussia.  Delivery  of  the  ship  at  Copenhagen  was  not  made,  however,  till  after 
the  war  had  ceased,  and  no  trouble  was  experienced  by  the  Confederates  in  arranging  for  the  purchase  of  the  vessel.  On  January 
24,  1805,  she  rendezvoused  off  Quiberon,  on  the  French  coast;  the  remainder  of  her  ofncers,  crew,  and  supplies  were  put  aboard  of  her; 

the  Confederate  flag 
was  hoisted  over  her, 
and  she  was  christened 
the  "Stonewall."  Al 
ready  the  vessel  was 
discovered  to  have 
sprung  a  leak,  and  Cap 
tain  Page  ran  into 
Ferrol,  Spain.  Here 
dock  -  yard  facilities' 
were  at  first  granted, 
but  were  withdrawn 
at  the  protest  of  the 
American  Minister. 
While  Captain  Page 
was  repairing  his  ves 
sel  as  best  he  could, 
the  "Niagara"  and 
the  "Sacramento"  ap 
peared,  and  after  some 
weeks  the ' '  Stonewall 
offered  battle  in  vain. 
[Part  XV] 


* 


Painted  by  P.  U'ilhelmi. 


STORMING    THE    TRENCHES. 


Copyright,  jgor,  by  Petrien-fCevdfl  Co., 
Detroit,  Mich..  U.  S.  A. 


THE  LAST  INVASION   OF   TENNESSEE- 
FRANKLIN—NASHVILLE 

IN  the  latter  days  of  September,  1864,  the  Confederate 
Army  of  Tennessee  lay  in  the  vicinity  of  Macon,  Georgia. 
It  was  a  dispirited  body  of  men,  homesick  and  discouraged. 
For  four  long  months,  first  under  one  leader  and  then  under 
another,  it  had  opposed,  step  by  step,  Sherman's  advance 
toward  Atlanta,  and  now  that  important  strategic  point  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Federal  forces.  About  the  middle  of  July 
the  President  of  the  Confederacy  had  seen  fit  to  remove  Joseph 
E.  Johnston  from  the  command  and  replace  him  with  John 
B.  Hood.  The  latter 's  habit  of  mind  and  methods  of  action 
led  the  Richmond  authorities  to  believe  that  he  would  proceed 
very  differently  from  Johnston,  and  in  this  he  did  not  disap 
point  them.  The  results  showed  that  Johnston's  Fabian  policy 
was  by  far  the  better  one  under  the  circumstances.  Sherman 
had  the  stronger  army,  but  he  was  compelled  constantly  to 
detach  portions  of  it  in  order  to  guard  his  lengthening  line  of 
supplies.  The  one  thing  he  desired  most  was  that  his  opponent 
should  assume  an  aggressive  attitude.  Hood's  idea  was  pre 
cipitation  rather  than  patience,  and  in  consequence  on  the  2d 
of  September  General  Slocum  entered  the  coveted  city. 

On  the  22d  of  that  month  President  Davis  visited  the 
Southern  Army,  and  made  a  memorable  address  to  the  troops. 
He  promised  them — and  they  were  delighted  at  the  news — that 
they  would  soon  be  back  in  Tennessee,  for  a  fresh  invasion  of 
that  State  had  been  planned.  This  would,  declared  the 
speaker,  place  Sherman  in  a  worse  predicament  than  that  in 
which  Napoleon  found  himself  at  Moscow.  But  the  Federal 
general  had  at  least  the  advantage  of  learning  what  was  going 
to  happen  to  him,  for  the  President's  words  were  reported 


^r 

nmklin  mtfc  NashuiU?     *      *      *      *      * 

I 

I      Oct. 
1     1864 

^x""" g|  verbatim  in  the  Southern  papers,  and  he  prepared  to  meet  his 
antagonists.  Thomas,  with  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  was 
sent  to  Nashville  while  Schofield,  with  his  smaller  force  known 
as  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  returned  to  Knoxville  where  he  had 
spent  the  previous  winter,  to  await  Hood's  advance.  By  the 
1st  of  October  the  latter  was  across  the  Chattahoochee  in  the 
hope  of  drawing  Sherman  from  Atlanta.  There  was  a  brave 
fight  at  Allatoona  where  General  Corse  "held  the  fort,"  but 
Sherman,  although  he  followed  the  Confederate  army,  was 
unable  to  bring  on  a  general  engagement. 

His  great  plan  of  a  march  through  Georgia  to  the  sea  was 
now  fully  formed  in  his  mind.  He  had  not  yet  obtained 
Grant's  sanction  to  the  scheme,  but  he  ordered  Schofield  to 
cooperate  with  Thomas  and  sent  the  Fourth  Corps  as  further 
assistance.  He  himself  ceased  the  pursuit  of  Hood  at  Gayles- 
ville  and  turned  back  to  Atlanta,  confident  that  the  fate  of 
Tennessee  was  safe  in  the  hands  of  his  ablest  lieutenant,  George 
H.  Thomas.  Hood  appeared  on  the  26th  of  October  at 
Decatur  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Tennessee  River.  Lack  of 
supplies  had  delayed  his  advance,  but  even  so  his  performances 
had  greatly  alarmed  the  North.  Twice  had  he  interposed 
between  Sherman  and  the  Federal  base  and  had  destroyed 
many  miles  of  railway,  but  what  in  other  circumstances  would 
have  placed  the  Union  leader  in  a  dangerous  predicament  was 
now  of  little  moment,  since  the  latter  was  rapidly  making  prep 
arations  to  cut  himself  off  from  all  communication  with  the 
source  of  his  supplies.  It  was  necessary  that  Hood  should 
have  the  assistance  of  Forrest,  whose  dauntless  cavalry  had 
been  playing  great  havoc  with  the  Federal  stores  in  western 
Tennessee,  so  he  moved  to  Florence  before  crossing  the  river, 
and  here  Forrest  joined  him  on  November  14th.  In  the  mean 
time,  Schofield,  with  about  twenty-eight  thousand  men,  had 
reached  Pulaski  on  the  way  to  encounter  the  Southern  advance. 
Now  began  a  series  of  brilliant  strategic  moves,  kept  up 
for  a  fortnight  before  the  two  small  armies — they  were  of 


/A 


,    PATRIOT  PUB.  CO. 


RUSHING  A  FEDERAL  BATTERY  OUT  OF  JOHNSONVILLE 

When  Thomas  began  to  draw  together  his  forces  to  meet  Hood  at  Nashville,  he  ordered  the  garrison  at 
Johnsonville,  on  the  Tennessee,  eighty  miles  due  west  of  Nashville,  to  leave  that  place  and  hasten  north. 
It  was  the  garrison  at  this  same  Johnsonville  that,  a  month  earlier,  had  been  frightened  into  panic  and 
flight  when  the  bold  Confederate  raider,  Forrest,  appeared  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river  and  began  a  noisy 
cannonade.  New  troops  had  been  sent  to  the  post.  They  appear  well  coated  and  equipped.  The  day 
after  the  photograph  was  taken  (November  23d)  the  encampment  in  the  picture  was  broken. 


ranklitt 


Nov. 
1864 


almost  equal  strength — met  in  one  awful  clash.  Hood's  efforts 
were  bent  toward  cutting  Schofield  off  from  Thomas  at  Nash 
ville.  There  was  a  mad  race  for  the  Duck  River,  and  the 
Federals  got  over  at  Columbia  in  the  very  nick  of  time.  The 
Southern  leader,  by  a  skilful  piece  of  strategy  and  a  forced 
march,  pushed  on  to  Spring  Hill  ahead  of  his  opponent.  He 
was  in  an  excellent  position  to  annihilate  General  Stanley  who 
was  in  advance,  and  then  crush  the  remainder  of  the  Federals 
who  were  moving  with  the  slow  wagon-trains.  But  owing  to 
a  number  of  strange  mishaps,  which  brought  forth  much 
recrimination  but  no  satisfactory  explanation,  the  Union  army 
slipped  by  with  little  damage  and  entrenched  itself  at  Franklin 
on  the  Harpeth  River.  Of  all  the  dark  days  of  Confederate 
history— and  they  were  many — the  29th  of  November,  1864, 
has  been  mourned  as  that  of  "lost  opportunities." 

Schofield  did  not  expect,  or  desire,  a  battle  at  Franklin, 
but  he  was  treated  to  one  the  following  afternoon  when  the 
Confederates  came  up,  and  it  was  of  the  most  severe  nature. 
The  first  attack  was  made  as  the  light  began  to  wane,  and  the 
Federal  troops  stood  their  ground  although  the  orders  had 
been  to  withdraw,  because  through  some  blunder  two  brigades 
in  blue  had  been  stationed,  unsupported,  directly  in  front  of 
Hood's  approach.  The  stubborn  resistance  of  Schofield's  army 
only  increased  the  ardor  of  the  opponents.  It  is  said  that 
thirteen  separate  assaults  were  made  upon  the  Union  entrench 
ments,  and  the  fearful  carnage  was  finally  carried  into  the 
streets  and  among  the  dooryards  of  the  little  town.  At  nine 
o'clock  the  fury  of  the  iron  storm  was  quelled.  Five  Con 
federate  generals,  including  the  gallant  Cleburne,  lay  dead 
upon  the  field.  In  two  of  the  Southern  brigades  all  the  general 
officers  were  either  killed  or  wounded.  Hood's  loss  was  about 
sixty-three  hundred,  nearly  three  times  that  of  Schofield.  By 
midnight  the  latter  was  on  his  way,  uninterrupted,  to  Nashville. 

Meanwhile  Thomas  was  performing  a  herculean  task 
within  the  fortifications  of  that  capital  city.  He  had  received 


FORT    NEGLEY,    LOOKING    TOWARD    THE    CONFEDERATE    CENTER    AND    LEFT,    AS 

HOOD'S  VETERANS  THREATENED  THE   CITY 


It  was  Hood's  hope  that,  when  he  had  advanced  his  line  to  the  left  of  the  position  shown  in  this  photo 
graph,  he  might  catch  a  weak  spot  in  Thomas'  forces.  But  Thomas  had  no  weak  spots.  From  the  case 
mate,  armored  with  railroad  iron,  shown  here,  the  hills  might  be  easily  seen  on  which  the  Confederate 
center  and  left  were  posted  at  the  opening  of  the  great  battle  of  Nashville. 


THE  PRIZE  OF  THE  NASHVILLE  CAMPAIGN— THE  STATE  CAPITOL 


rankltn  anft 


Dec. 
1864 


a  large  number  of  raw  recruits  and  a  motley  collection  of 
troops  from  garrisons  in  the  West.  These  had  to  be  drilled 
into  an  efficient  army,  and  not  one  move  to  fight  would  Thomas 
make  until  this  had  been  done.  Grant,  in  Virginia,  grew  impa 
tient  and  the  Northern  papers  clamored  for  an  attack  on  Hood, 
who  had  now  arrived  with  thirty-eight  thousand  men  before 
the  city.  Finally  Grant  took  action,  and  General  Logan  was 
hurrying  to  assume  the  Federal  command.  But  by  the  time 
he  reached  Louisville  there  was  no  need  for  his  services. 

Thomas  had  for  some  days  been  ready  with  his  force  of 
forty-five  thousand,  but  to  increase  the  difficulties  of  his  posi 
tion,  a  severe  storm  of  freezing  rain  made  action  impossible 
until  the  morning  of  December  15th.  The  Union  lines  of 
defense  were  in  a  semi-circle  and  Hood  was  on  the  southeast, 
lightly  entrenched.  The  first  assault  on  his  right  wing  fol 
lowed  by  one  on  his  left,  forced  the  Confederates  back  to  a 
second  position  two  miles  to  the  south,  and  that  was  the  first 
day's  work.  Hood  had  detached  a  part  of  his  forces  and  he 
did  all  he  could  to  gain  time  until  he  might  recover  his  full 
strength.  But  he  had  respite  only  until  Thomas  was  ready 
on  the  morrow,  which  was  about  noon.  The  Union  army 
deployed  in  front  of  the  Southerners  and  overlapped  their  left 
wing.  An  attack  on  the  front  was  bravely  met  and  repulsed 
by  the  Confederates,  and  the  Federal  leader,  extending  his 
right,  compelled  his  opponent  to  stretch  his  own  lines  more  and 
more.  Finally  they  broke  just  to  the  left  of  the  center,  and  a 
general  forward  movement  on  the  Union  side  ended  in  the  utter 
rout  of  the  splendid  and  courageous  Army  of  Tennessee. 

It  melted  away  in  disorder ;  the  pursuit  was  vigorous,  and 
only  a  small  portion  reassembled  at  Columbia  and  fell  back 
with  a  poor  show  of  order  behind  the  Tennessee. 

Many  military  historians  have  seen  in  the  battle  of  Nash 
ville  the  most  crushing  defeat  of  the  war.  Certainly  no  other 
brought  such  complete  ruin  upon  a  large  and  well-organized 
body  of  troops. 


,  PATRIOT    PUB.  CO. 


THOMAS  ADVANCING   HIS  OUTER  LINE  AT  NASHVILLE,    DECEMBER   IGra 


Camp-fires  were  still  smouldering  along  the  side  of  the  abatis  where  the  lens  caught  the  field  of  Nashville,  while  Thomas'  concentric 
forward  movement  was  in  progress.  Note  the  abatis  to  the  right  of  the  picture,  the  wagons  moving  and  ready  to  move  in  the  back 
ground,  and  the  artillery  on  the  left.  White  tents  gleam  from  the  distant  hills.  A  few  straggling  soldiers  remain.  The  Federals 
are  closing  with  Hood's  army  a  couple  of  miles  to  the  right  of  the  scene  in  the  picture. 


GUARDING  THE  LINE  DURING  THE  ADVANCE 


v , 


THE  SIEGE  AND  FALL  OF 
PETERSBURG 

It  is  not  improbable  that  Grant  might  have  made  more  headway  by 
leaving  a  sufficient  part  of  his  army  in  the  trenches  in  front  of  Petersburg 
and  by  moving  with  a  heavy  force  far  to  the  west  upon  Lee\s  communica 
tions;  or,  if  it  were  determined  to  capture  the  place  a  main  forte.,  by 
making  a  massed  attack  upon  some  point  in  the  center  after  suitable  min 
ing  operations  had  weakened  Lee\s  defenses  and  prepared  for  such  an 
operation.  But  the  end  was  to  come  with  opening  spring.  To  the  far- 
sighted,  this  was  no  longer  doubtful.  The  South  must  succumb  to  the 
greater  material  resources  of  the  North,  despite  its  courage  and  its  sacri 
fices. — Colonel  T.  A.  Dodge,  U.S.A.,  in  "A  Bird^s-Eye  View  of  Our  Civil 
War." 

DURING  the  winter  of  1864-65,  General  Lee,  fighting 
Grant  without,  was  fighting  famine  within.  The  shiv 
ering,  half-clad  soldiers  of  the  South  crouched  over  feeble  fires 
in  their  entrenchments.  The  men  were  exposed  to  the  rain, 
snow,  and  sleet;  sickness  and  disease  soon  added  their  horrors 
to  the  desolation.  The  finances  of  the  Government  wrere  almost 
gone.  The  life  of  the  Confederacy  was  ebbing  fast. 

Behind  Union  breastworks,  early  in  1865,  General  Grant 
was  making  preparations  for  the  opening  of  a  determined  cam 
paign  with  the  coming  of  spring.  Mile  after  mile  had  been 
added  to  his  entrenchments,  and  they  now  extended  to 
Hatcher's  Run  on  the  left.  The  Confederate  lines  had  been 
stretched  until  they  were  so  thin  that  there  was  constant  danger 
of  breaking.  A.  P.  Hill  was  posted  on  the  right;  Gordon  and 
Anderson  held  the  center,  and  Longstreet  was  on  the  left. 
Union  troops  were  mobilizing  in  front  of  Petersburg.  By 
February  1st,  Sherman  was  fairly  off  from  Savannah  on  his 
northward  march  to  join  Grant.  He  was  weak  in  cavalry  and 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    PATRIOT  PUB.    CO. 


A  BATTERED  RELIC  OF  COLONIAL  DAYS  IN  PETERSBURG 


This  beautiful  old  mansion  on  Bo- 
lingbroke  Street  could  look  back  to 
the  days  of  buckles  and  small 
clothes;  it  wears  an  aggrieved  and 
surprised  look,  as  if  wondering  why 
it  should  have  received  such  buffet- 
ings  as  its  pierced  walls,  its  shattered 
windows  and  doorway  show.  Yet 
it  was  more  fortunate  than  some  of 
its  near-by  neighbors,  which  were 
never  again  after  the  visitation  of 
the  falling  shells  fit  habitations  for 
mankind.  Many  of  these  handsome 
residences  were  utterly  destroyed, 
their  fixtures  shattered  beyond  re 
pair;  their  wainscoting,  built  when 
the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  was 


COPYRIGHT,    1911,    PATRIOT   PUB.    CO, 

THE  SHATTERED  DOORWAY 


ruled  over  by  the  representative  of 
King  George,  was  torn  from  the 
walls  and,  bursting  into  flames,  made 
a  funeral  pyre  of  past  comforts  and 
magnificence.  The  havoc  wrought 
upon  the  dwellings  of  the  town  was 
heavy;  certain  localities  suffered 
more  than  others,  and  those  resi 
dents  who  seemed  to  dwell  in  the 
safest  zones  had  been  ever  ready  to 
open  their  houses  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  of  Lee's  army.  As  Grant's 
troops  marched  in,  many  pale  faces 
gazed  out  at  them  from  the  win 
dows,  and  at  the  doorsteps  stood 
men  whose  wounds  exempted  them 
from  ever  bearing  arms  again. 


March 
1865 


J  I 


Grant  determined  to  bring  Sheridan  from  the  Shenandoah, 
whence  the  bulk  of  Early's  forces  had  been  withdrawn,  and 
send  him  to  assist  Sherman.  Sheridan  left  Winchester  Febru 
ary  27th,  wreaking  much  destruction  as  he  advanced,  but  cir 
cumstances  compelled  him  to  seek  a  new  base  at  White  House. 
On  March  27th  he  formed  a  junction  with  the  armies  of  the 
Potomac  and  the  James.  Such  were  the  happenings  that 
prompted  Lee  to  prepare  for  the  evacuation  of  Petersburg. 
And  he  might  be  able,  in  his  rapid  marches,  to  outdistance 
Grant,  join  his  forces  with  those  of  Johnston,  fall  on  Sherman, 
destroy  one  wing  of  the  Union  army  and  arouse  the  hopes  of 
his  soldiers,  and  prolong  the  life  of  his  Government. 

General  Grant  knew  the  condition  of  Lee's  army  and, 
with  the  unerring  instinct  of  a  military  leader,  surmised  what 
the  plan  of  the  Southern  general  must  be.  He  decided  to 
move  on  the  left,  destroy  both  the  Danville  and  South  Side 
railroads,  and  put  his  army  in  better  condition  to  pursue.  The 
move  was  ordered  for  March  29th. 

General  Lee,  in  order  to  get  Grant  to  look  another  way 
for  a  while,  decided  to  attack  Grant's  line  on  the  right,  and  gain 
some  of  the  works.  This  would  compel  Grant  to  draw  some  of 
his  force  from  his  left  and  secure  a  way  of  escape  to  the  west. 
This  bold  plan  was  left  for  execution  to  the  gallant  Georgian, 
General  John  B.  Gordon,  who  had  successfully  led  the 
reverse  attack  at  Cedar  Creek,  in  the  Shenandoah,  in  Oc 
tober,  1864.  Near  the  crater  stood  Fort  Stedman.  Between 
it  and  the  Confederate  front,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards,  was  a  strip  of  firm  earth,  in  full  view  of  both 
picket  lines.  Across  this  space  some  deserters  had  passed  to 
the  Union  entrenchments.  General  Gordon  took  advantage 
of  this  fact  and  accordingly  selected  his  men,  who,  at  the  sound 
of  the  signal  gun,  should  disarm  the  Federal  pickets,  while  fifty 
more  men  were  to  cross  the  open  space  quickly  with  axes  and 
cut  away  the  abatis,  and  three  hundred  others  were  to  rush 
through  the  opening,  and  capture  the  fort  and  guns. 


/// '    ' 

'//, 


7// 


y/vs/// 


////// 


'/# 


W//, 


< 


APPROACHING  THE  POST  OF  DAXGER— PETERSBURG,  1865 


A  FEW  STEPS  NEARER  THE  PICKET  LIXE 


IX   BEHIXD  THE   SHELTER 


For  nine  months  of  '64-'65  the  musket-balls  sang  past  these  Federal  picket  posts,  in  advance  of  Federal  Fort  Sedgwick,  called  by  the 
Confederates  "Fort,  Hell."  Directly  opposite  was  the  Confederate  Fort  Mahone,  which  the  Federals,  returning  the  compliment,  had 
dubbed  "Fort  Damnation."  Between  the  two  lines,  separated  by  only  fifty  yards,  sallies  and  counter-sallies  were  continual  occur 
rences  after  dark.  In  stealthy  sorties  one  side  or  the  other  frequently  captured  the  opposing  pickets  before  alarm  could  be  given. 
Xo  nig-ht  was  without  its  special  hazard.  During  the  day  the  pastime  here  was  sharp-shooting  with  muskets  and  rifled  cannon. 


At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  March  25,  1865,  Gor 
don  had  everything  in  readiness.  His  chosen  band  wore  white 
strips  of  cloth  across  the  breast,  that  they  might  distinguish 
each  other  in  the  hand-to-hand  fight  that  would  doubtless 
ensue.  Behind  these  men  half  of  Lee's  army  was  massed  to 
support  the  attack.  In  the  silence  of  the  early  morning,  a  gun 
shot  rang  out  from  the  Confederate  works.  Not  a  Federal 
picket-shot  was  heard.  The  axemen  rushed  across  the  open 
and  soon  the  thuds  of  their  axes  told  of  the  cutting  away  of 
the  abatis.  The  three  hundred  surged  through  the  entrance, 
overpowered  the  gunners,  captured  batteries  to  the  right  and 
to  the  left,  and  were  in  control  of  the  situation.  Gordon's  corps 
of  about  five  thousand  was  on  hand  to  sustain  the  attack  but 
the  remaining  reserves,  through  failure  of  the  guides,  did  not 
come,  and  the  general  found  himself  cut  off  with  a  rapidly  in 
creasing  army  surrounding  him. 

Fort  Haskell,  on  the  left,  began  to  throw  its  shells.  Under 
its  cover,  heavy  columns  of  Federals  sent  by  General  Parke, 
now  commanding  the  Ninth  Corps,  pressed  forward.  The 
Confederates  resisted  the  charge,  and  from  the  captured  Fort 
Stedman  and  the  adjoining  batteries  poured  volley  after  vol 
ley  on  Willcox's  advancing  lines  of  blue.  The  Northerners  fell 
back,  only  to  re-form  and  renew  the  attack.  This  time  they 
secured  a  footing,  and  for  twenty  minutes  the  fighting  was  ter 
rific.  Again  they  were  repulsed.  Then  across  the  brow  of  the 
hill  swept  the  command  of  Hartranft.  The  blue  masses  lit 
erally  poured  onto  the  field.  The  furious  musketry,  and  ar 
tillery  directed  by  General  Tidball,  shrivelled  up  the  ranks  of 
Gordon  until  they  fled  from  the  fort  and  its  neighboring  bat 
teries  in  the  midst  of  withering  fire,  and  those  who  did  not 
were  captured.  This  was  the  last  aggressive  effort  of  the  ex 
piring  Confederacy  in  front  of  Petersburg,  and  it  cost  three 
thousand  men.  The  Federal  loss  was  not  half  that  number. 

The  affair  at  Fort  Stedman  did  not  turn  Grant  from  his 
plans  against  the  Confederate  right.    With  the  railroads  here 


X 


SECURITY  FROM  SURPRISE 


THE  MOLE-HILL  RAMPARTS,  NEAR  THE  CRATER 

These  well-made  protections  of  sharpened  spikes,  as  formidable  as  the  pointed  spears  of  a  Roman  legion,  are  chevaux-de-frise  of  the 
Confederates  before  their  main  works  at  Petersburg.  They  were  built  after  European  models,  the  same  as  employed  in  the  Napo 
leonic  wars,  and  were  used  by  both  besiegers  and  besieged  along  the  lines  south  of  the  Appomattox.  Those  shown  in  this  picture 
were  in  front  of  the  entrenchments  near  Elliott's  salient  and  show  how  effectually  it  was  protected  from  any  attempt  to  storm  the 
works  by  rushing  tactics  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  infantry.  Not  far  from  here  lies  the  excavation  of  the  Crater. 


atti  3f  all  nf 


rl 

\       April 
1865 

Er^S\<\\\'vVr~^w 


destroyed,  Richmond  would  be  completely  cut  off.  On  the 
morning  of  the  29th,  as  previously  arranged,  the  movement 
began.  Sheridan  swept  to  the  south  with  his  cavalry,  as  if  he 
were  to  fall  upon  the  railroads.  General  Warren,  with  fifteen 
thousand  men,  was  working  his  way  through  the  tangled  woods 
and  low  swamps  in  the  direction  of  Lee's  right.  At  the  same 
time,  Lee  stripped  his  entrenchments  at  Petersburg  as  much  as 
he  dared  and  hurried  General  Anderson,  with  infantry,  and 
Fitzhugh  Lee,  with  cavalry,  forward  to  hold  the  roads  over 
which  he  hoped  to  escape.  On  Friday  morning,  March  31st, 
the  opposing  forces,  the  Confederates  much  reenforced,  found 
themselves  at  Dinwiddie  Court  House.  The  woods  and  swamps 
prevented  the  formation  of  a  regular  line  of  battle.  Lee  made 
his  accustomed  flank  movement,  with  heavy  loss  to  the  Federals 
as  they  tried  to  move  in  the  swampy  forests.  The  Northerners 
finally  were  ready  to  advance  when  it  was  found  that  Lee  had 
fallen  back.  During  the  day  and  night,  reenforcements  were 
coming  in  from  all  sides.  The  Confederates  had  taken  their 
position  at  Five  Forks. 

Early  the  next  afternoon,  the  1st  of  April,  Sheridan,  re- 
enforced  by  Warren,  was  arranging  his  troops  for  battle.  The 
day  was  nearly  spent  when  all  was  in  readiness.  The  sun  was 
not  more  than  two  hours  high  when  the  Northern  army  moved 
toward  that  of  the  South,  defended  by  a  breastwork  behind  a 
dense  undergrowth  of  pines.  Through  this  mass  of  timber 
the  Federals  crept  with  bayonets  fixed.  They  charged  upon 
the  Confederates,  but,  at  the  same  time,  a  galling  fire  poured 
into  them  from  the  left,  spreading  dismay  and  destruction  in 
their  midst.  The  intrepid  Sheridan  urged  his  black  battle- 
charger,  the  famous  Rienzi,  now  known  as  Winchester,  up  and 
down  the  lines,  cheering  his  men  on  in  the  fight.  He  seemed 
to  be  everywhere  at  once.  The  Confederate  left  was  streaming 
down  the  White  Oak  Road.  But  General  Crawford  had 
reached  a  cross-road,  by  taking  a  circuitous  route,  and  the 
Southern  army  was  thus  shut  off  from  retreat.  The  Federal 

[Concluded  on  page  294} 


To  this  gallant  young  Georgia  officer, 
just  turned  thirty -three  at  the  time, 
Lee  entrusted  the  last  desperate  effort 
to  break  through  the  tightening  Fed 
eral  lines,  March  25,  1865.  Lee  was 
confronted  by  the  dilemma  of  either 
being  starved  out  of  Petersburg  and 
Richmond,  or  of  getting  out  himself 
and  uniting  his  army  to  that  of  John 
ston  in  North  Carolina,  to  crush  Sher 
man  before  Grant  could  reach  him. 
Gordon  was  to  begin  this  latter, 
almost  impossible,  task  by  an  attack 
on  Fort  Stedman,  which  the  Confed 
erates  believed  to  be  the  weakest  point 
in  the  Federal  fortifications^  The 
position  had  been  captured  from  them 
in  the  beginning,  and  they  knew  that 
the  nature  of  the  ground  and  its  near 
ness  to  their  own  lines  had  made  it 
difficult  to  strengthen  it  very  much. 
It  was  planned  to  surprise  the  fort  before 
daylight.  Below  are  seen  the  rabbit- 
like  burrows  of  Gracie's  Salient,  past 
which  Gordon  led  his  famished  men. 
When  the  order  came  to  go  forward, 
they  did  not  flinch,  but  hurled  them 
selves  bravely  against  fortifications  far  stronger  than  their  own. 
Three  columns  of  a  hundred  picked  men  each  moved  down  the 
slope  shown  on  the  left  and  advanced  in  the  darkness  against 


GENERAL  JOHN 
C.  S. 


B.  GORDON, 
A. 


Stedman.  They  were  to  be  followed 
by  a  division.  Through  the  gap 
which  the  storming  parties  were 
expected  to  open  in  the  Federal  lines, 
Gordon's  columns  would  rush  in  both 
directions  and  a  cavalry  force  was  to 
sweep  on  and  destroy  the  pontoon 
bridges  across  the  Appomattox  and  to 
raid  City  Point,  breaking  up  the  Fed 
eral  base.  It  was  no  light  task,  for 
although  Fort  Stedman  itself  was 
weak,  it  was  flanked  by  Battery  No. 
10  on  the  right  and  by  Battery  No.  11 
on  the  left.  An  attacking  party  on  the 
right  would  be  exposed  to  an  enfilad 
ing  fire  in  crossing  the  plain;  while  on 
the  left  the  approach  was  difficult  be 
cause  of  ravines,  one  of  which  the  Con 
federate  engineers  had  turned  into  a 
pond  by  damming  a  creek.  All  night 
long  General  Gordon's  wife,  with  the 
brave  women  of  Petersburg,  sat  up 
tearing  strips  of  white  cloth,  to  be  tied 
on  the  arms  of  the  men  in  the  storming 
parties  so  that  they  could  tell  friend 
from  foe  in  the  darkness  and  confusion 
of  the  assault.  Before  the  sleep-dazed 


Federals  could  offer  effective  resistance,  Gordon's  men  had  pos 
session  of  the  fort  and  the  batteries.  Only  after  one  of  the  sever 
est  engagements  of  the  siege  were  the  Confederates  driven  back. 


GRACIE'S   SALIENT -AFTER  GORDON'S   FORLORN   HOPE   HAD  CHARGED 


of 


April 
1865 


r 


cavalry  had  dismounted  and  was  doing  its  full  share  of  work. 
The  Confederates  soon  found  themselves  trapped,  and  the  part 
of  their  army  in  action  that  day  was  nearly  annihilated.  Ahout 
five  thousand  prisoners  were  taken. 

With  night  came  the  news  of  the  crushing  blow  to  Lee. 
General  Grant  was  seated  by  his  camp-fire  surrounded  by  his 
staff,  when  a  courier  dashed  into  his  presence  with  the  message 
of  victory.  Soon  from  every  great  gun  along  the  Union  line 
belched  forth  the  sheets  of  flame.  The  earth  shook  with  the 
awful  cannonade.  Mortar  shells  made  huge  parabolas  through 
the  air.  The  Union  batteries  crept  closer  and  closer  to  the 
Confederate  lines  and  the  balls  crashed  into  the  streets  of  the 
doomed  city.  The  bombardment  of  Petersburg  was  on. 

At  dawn  of  the  2nd  of  April  the  grand  assault  began. 
The  Federal  troops  sprang  forward  with  a  rush.  Despite  the 
storms  of  grape  and  canister,  the  Sixth  Corps  plunged  through 
the  battery  smoke,  and  across  the  walls,  pushing  the  brave  de 
fenders  to  the  inner  works.  The  whole  corps  penetrated  the 
lines  and  swept  everything  before  it  toward  Hatcher's  Run. 
Some  of  the  troops  even  reached  the  South  Side  Railroad, 
where  the  brave  General  A.  P.  Hill  fell  mortally  wounded. 

Everywhere,  the  blue  masses  poured  into  the  works.  Gen 
eral  Ord,  on  the  right  of  the  Sixth  Corps,  helped  to  shut  the 
Confederate  right  into  the  city.  General  Parke,  with  the  Ninth 
Corps,  carried  the  main  line.  The  thin  gray  line  could  no 
longer  stem  the  tide  that  was  engulfing  it.  The  Confederate 
troops  south  of  Hatcher's  Run  fled  to  the  west,  and  fought 
General  Miles  until  General  Sheridan  and  a  division  from 
Meade  appeared  on  the  scene.  By  noon  the  Federals  held 
the  line  of  the  outer  works  from  Fort  Gregg  to  the  Ap- 
pomattox.  The  last  stronghold  carried  was  Fort  Gregg,  at 
which  the  men  of  Gibbon's  corps  had  one  of  the  most  desperate 
struggles  of  the  war.  The  Confederates  now  fell  back  to  the 
inner  fortifications  and  the  siege  of  Petersburg  came  to  an  end. 


APRIL  SECOND— "THIS  IS  A  SAD   BUSINESS'" 

As  his  general  watched,  this  boy  fought  to  stem  the  Federal  rush — but  fell,  his  breast  pierced  by  a  bayonet,  in  the  trenches  of  Fort 
Mahonc.  It  is  heart-rending  to  look  at  a  picture  such  as  this;  it  is  sad  to  think  of  it  and  to  write  about  it.  Here  is  a  boy  of 
only  fourteen  years,  his  face  innocent  of  a  razor,  his  feet  unshod  and  stockingless  in  the  bitter  April  weather.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  man  who  slew  him  has  forgotten  it,  for  this  face  would  haunt  him  surely.  Many  who  fought  in  the  blue  ranks  were  young, 
but  in  the  South  there  were  whole  companies  made  up  of  such  boys  as  this.  At  the  battle  of  Newmarket  the  scholars  of  the  Vir- 
gina  Military  Institute,  the  eldest  seventeen  and  the  youngest  twelve,  marched  from  the  classrooms  under  arms,  joined  the  forces 
of  General  Breckinridge,  and  aided  by  their  historic  charge  to  gain  a  brilliant  victory  over  the  Federal  General  Sigel.  The  never- 
give-in  spirit  was  implanted  in  the  youth  of  the  Confederacy,  as  well  as  in  the  hearts  of  the  grizzled  veterans.  Lee  had  inspired 
them,  but  in  addition  to  this  inspiration,  as  General  Gordon  writes,  "every  man  of  them  was  supported  by  their  extraordinary  con 
secration,  resulting  from  the  conviction  that  he  was  fighting  in  the  defense  of  home  and  the  rights  of  his  State.  Hence  their  unfal 
tering  faith  in  the  justice  of  the  cause,  their  fortitude  in  the  extremest  privations,  their  readiness  to  stand  shoeless  and  shivering  in 
l'ie  trenches  at  night  and  to  face  any  danger  at  their  leader's  call." 


1 


APPOMATTOX 

I  now  come  to  what  I  have  always  regarded — shall  ever  regard— as 
the  most  creditable  episode  in  all  American  history — an  episode  without 
a  blemish,  imposing,  dignified,  simple,  heroic.  I  refer  to  Appomattox. 
Two  men  met  that  day,  representative  of  American  civilization,  the  whole 
world  looking  on.  The  two  were  Grant  and  Lee — types  each.  Both 
rose,  and  rose  unconsciously,  to  the  full  height  of  the  occasion — and  than 
that  occasion  there  has  been  none  greater.  About  it,  and  them,  there 
was  no  theatrical  display,  no  self-consciousness,  no  effort  at  effect.  A 
great  crisis  was  to  be  met ;  and  they  met  that  crisis  as  great  countrymen 
should.  Consider  the  possibilities  ;  think  for  a  moment  of  what  that  day 
might  have  been  ;  you  will  then  see  cause  to  thank  God  for  much.— 
General  Charles  Francis  Adams,  U.S.  V. ,  in  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Address  de 
livered  at  the  University  of  Chicago,  June  17,  1902. 

\\  7"Et  are  now  to  witness  the  closing  scene  of  one  of  the 
V  V  greatest  tragedies  ever  enacted  on  the  world's  stage. 
Many  and  varied  had  been  the  scenes  during  the  war ;  the  actors 
and  their  parts  had  been  real.  The  wounds  of  the  South  were 
bleeding ;  the  North  was  awaiting  the  decisive  blow.  Thousands 
of  homes  were  ruined.  Fortunes,  great  and  small,  had  melted 
away  by  the  hundreds  of  millions.  In  Richmond,  the  citadel  of 
the  waning  Confederacy,  the  people  were  starving.  The 
Southern  army,  half  clad  and  without  food,  was  but  a  shadow 
of  its  once  proud  self.  Bravely  and  long  the  men  in  gray 
had  followed  their  adored  leader.  Now  the  limit  of  endurance 
had  been  reached. 

It  was  the  second  day  of  April,  1865.  Lee  realized  that 
after  Petersburg  his  beloved  Richmond  must  fall.  The  order 
wras  given  for  the  movement  to  begin  at  eight  o'clock  that 
night.  The  darkness  of  the  early  morning  of  the  3d  was 
suddenly  transformed  into  a  lurid  light  overcasting  the  heavens 


7ifff 


1.  COLONEL 
HORACE 
PORTER 


3.  COLONEL 

T.  S. 
BOWERS 


5.  GENERAL 
JOHN*  G. 
BARNARD 


7.  GENERAL 

r.  s. 

GRANT 


9.  GENERAL 

SF.TH 
WILLIAMS 


11.  COLONEL 

ADAM 
BADEAU 


EVIEWS  CO. 


2.    COLOXEL 

WILLIAM 
DUFF 


4.  COLONEL 

J.  D. 
WEBSTER 


6.  GENERAL 
JOHN  A. 
RAWLINS 


12.  COLONEL 

E.  S. 
PARKER 


MEN  ABOUT  TO  WITNESS  APPOMATTOX 


No  photographer  was  present  at 
Appomattox,  that  supreme  mo 
ment  in  our  national  history, 
when  Americans  met  for  the  last 
time  as  foes  on  the  field.  Noth 
ing  but  fanciful  sketches  exist 
of  the  scene  inside  the  McLean 
home.  But  here  is  a  photograph 
that  shows  most  of  the  Union 
officers  present  at  the  conference. 
Nine  of  the  twelve  men  standing 
above  stood  also  at  the  signing 
of  Lee's  surrender,  a  few  days 
later.  The  scene  is  City  Point,  in 
March,  1865.  Grant  is  sur 
rounded  by  a  group  of  the  officers 
who  had  served  him  so  faithfully. 
At  the  surrender,  it  was  Colonel 
T;  S.  Bowers  (third  from  left) 
upon  whom  Grant  called  to  make 
a  copy  of  the  terms  of  surrender 
in  ink.  Colonel  E.  S.  Parker,  the 
full-blooded  Indian  on  Grant's 
staff,  an  excellent  penman,  wrote 


GRANT  BETWEEN   RAWLINS  AND  BOWERS 


out  the  final  copy.  Nineteen 
years  later,  General  Horace  Por 
ter  recorded  with  pride  that  he 
loaned  General  Lee  a  pencil  to 
make  a  correction  in  the  terms. 
Colonels  William  Duff  and  J.  D. 
Webster,  and  General  M.  R. 
Patrick,  are  the  three  men  who 
were  not  present  at  the  inter 
view.  All  of  the  remaining  offi 
cers  were  formally  presented  to 
Lee.  General  Seth  Williams  had 
been  Lee's  adjutant  when  the 
latter  was  superintendent  at 
West  Point  some  years  before  the 
war.  In  the  lower  photograph 
General  Grant  stands  between 
General  Rawlins  and  Colonel 
Bowers.  The  veins  standing  out 
on  the  back  of  his  hand  are 
plainly  visible.  No  one  but  he 
could  have  told  how  calmly  the 
blood  coursed  through  them  dur 
ing  the  four  tremendous  years. 


ppmtutttax  attft 


•$* 


v~\ 


for  miles  around  the  famous  city  whose  name  had  bee-  .ie  a 
household  word  over  the  civilized  world.  Richmond  was  in 
flames!  The  capital  of  the  Confederacy,  the  pride  of  the  South, 
toward  which  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  fought  its  way, 
leaving  a  trail  of  blood  for  four  weary  years,  had  at  last  suc 
cumbed  to  the  overwhelming  power  of  Grant's  indomitable 
armies. 

President  Davis  had  received  a  despatch  while  attending 
services  at  St.  Paul's  church,  Sunday  morning,  the  2d,  advis 
ing  him  that  the  city  must  be  evacuated  that  night,  and,  leaving 
the  church  at  once,  he  hastened  the  preparations  for  flight  with 
his  personal  papers  and  the  archives  of  the  Confederate  Gov 
ernment.  During  that  Sabbath  day  and  night  Richmond  was 
in  a  state  of  riot.  There  had  been  an  unwarranted  feeling  of 
security  in  the  city,  and  the  unwelcome  news,  spreading  like 
an  electric  flash,  was  paralyzing  and  disastrous  in  its  effect. 
Prisoners  were  released  from  their  toils,  a  lawless  mob  overran 
the  thoroughfares,  and  civic  government  was  nullified.  One 
explosion  after  another,  on  the  morning  of  the  3d,  rent  the 
air  with  deafening  roar,  as  the  magazines  took  fire.  The  scene 
was  one  of  terror  and  grandeur. 

The  flames  spread  to  the  city  from  the  ships,  bridges,  and 
arsenal,  which  had  been  set  on  fire,  and  hundreds  of  buildings, 
including  the  best  residential  section  of  the  capital  of  the  Con 
federacy,  were  destroyed) 

When  the  Union  army  entered  the  city  in  the  morning, 
thousands  of  the  inhabitants,  men,  women,  and  children,  were 
gathered  at  street  corners  and  in  the  parks,  in  wildest  confu 
sion.  The  commissary  depot  had  been  broken  open  by  the 
starving  mob,  and  rifled  of  its  contents,  until  the  place  was 
reached  by  the  spreading  flames.  The  Federal  soldiers  stacked 
arms,  and  heroically  battled  with  the  fire,  drafting  into  the 
work  all  able-bodied  men  found  in  the  city.  The  invaders  ex 
tinguished  the  flames,  and  soon  restored  the  city  to  a  state  of 
order  and  safety.  The  invalid  wife  of  General  Lee,  who  was 


IN  PETERSBURG— AFTER  NINE   MONTHS    OF   BATTERING 

This  fine  mansion  on  Bolingbroke  Street,  the  residential  section  of  Petersburg,  has  now,  on  the  3d  of  April,  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
straggling  Union  soldiers.  Its  windows  have  long  since  been  shattered  by  shells  from  distant  Federal  mortars;  one  has  even  burst 
through  the  wall.  But  it  was  not  till  the  night  of  April  2d,  when  the  retreat  of  the  Confederate  forces  started,  that  the  citizens  be 
gan  to  leave  their  homes.  At  9  o'clock  in  the  morning  General  Grant,  surrounded  by  his  staff,  rode  quietly  into  the  city.  The  streets 
were  deserted.  At  length  they  arrived  at  a  comfortable  home  standing  back  in  a  yard.  There  he  dismounted  and  sat  for  a  while  on 
the  piazza.  Soon  a  group  of  curious  citizens  gathered  on  the  sidewalk  to  gaze  at  the  commander  of  the  Yankee  armies.  But  the 
Union  troops  did  not  remain  long  in  the  deserted  homes.  Sheridan  was  already  in  pursuit  south  of  the  Appomattox,  and  Grant,  after 
a  short  conference  with  Lincoln,  rode  to  the  west  in  the  rear  of  the  hastily  marching  troops.  Bolingbroke  Street  and  Petersburg  soon 
returned  to  the  ordinary  occupations  of  peace  in  an  effort  to  repair  the  ravages  of  the  historic  nine  months'  siege. 


exposed  to  danger,  was  furnished  with  an  ambulance  and- cor 
poral's  guard  until  the  danger  was  past. 

President  Lincoln,  who  had  visited  Grant  at  Petersburg, 
entered  Richmond  on  the  4th  of  April.  He  visited  President 
Davis'  house,  and  Libby  Prison,  then  deserted,  and  held  a  con 
ference  with  prominent  citizens  and  army  officers  of  the  Con 
federacy.  The  President  seemed  deeply  concerned  and 
weighted  down  with  the  realization  of  the  great  responsibilities 
that  would  fall  upon  him  after  the  war.  Only  ten  days  later 
the  nation  was  shaken  from  ocean  to  ocean  by  the  tragic  news 
of  his  assassination. 

General  Lee  had  started  on  his  last  march  by  eight  o'clock 
on  the  night  of  the  2d.  By  midnight  the  evacuation  of  both 
Petersburg  and  Richmond  was  completed.  For  nine  months 
the  invincible  forces  of  Lee  had  kept  a  foe  of  more  than  twice 
their  numerical  strength  from  invading  their  stronghold,  and 
only  after  a  long  and  harassing  siege  were  they  forced  to  re 
treat.  They  saw  the  burning  city  as  their  line  of  march  was 
illuminated  by  the  conflagration,  and  emotions  too  deep  for 
words  overcame  them.  The  woods  and  fields,  in  their  fresh, 
bright  colors  of  spring,  were  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  travel- 
worn,  weather-beaten,  ragged  veterans  passing  over  the  verdant 
plain.  Lee  hastened  the  march  of  his  troops  to  Amelia  Court 
House,  where  he  had  ordered  supplies,  but  by  mistake  the  train 
of  supplies  had  been  sent  on  to  Richmond.  This  was  a  crushing 
blow  to  the  hungry  men,  who  had  been  stimulated  on  their 
tiresome  march  by  the  anticipation  of  much-needed  food.  The 
fatality  of  war  was  now  hovering  over  them  like  a  huge  black 
specter. 

General  Grant  did  not  proceed  to  Richmond,  but  leaving 
General  Weitzel  to  invest  the  city,  he  hastened  in  pursuit  of 
Lee  to  intercept  the  retreating  army.  This  pursuit  was  started 
early  on  the  3d.  On  the  evening  of  that  date  there  was  some 
firing  between  the  pursuing  army  and  Lee's  rear  guard.  It 
was  Lee's  design  to  concentrate  his  force  at  Amelia  Court 


APPOMATTOX  STATION— LEE'S  LAST  ATTEMPT  TO  PROVISION  HIS  RETREATING  ARMY 

At  this  railroad  point,  three  miles  from  the  Court  House,  a  Confederate  provision  train  arrived  on  the  morning  of  April  8th.  The  sup 
plies  were  being  loaded  into  wagons  and  ambulances  by  a  detail  of  about  four  thousand  men,  many  of  them  unarmed,  when  suddenly 
a  body  of  Federal  cavalry  charged  upon  them,  having  reached  the  spot  by  a  by-road  leading  from  the  Red  House.  After  a  few  shots 
the  Confederates  fled  in  confusion.  The  cavalry  drove  them  on  in  the  direction  of  Appomattox  Court  House,  capturing  many  prison 
ers,  twenty-five  pieces  of  artillery,  a  hospital  train,  and  a  large  park  of  wagons.  This  was  Lee's  last  effort  to  obtain  food  for  his  army. 


FEDERAL  SOLDIERS  WHO   PERFORMED  ONE   OF  THE  LAST  DUTIES   AT  APPOMATTOX 

A  detail  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Michigan  handed  out  paroles  to  the  surrendered  Confederates, 


House,  but  this  was  not  to  be  accomplished  by  the  night  of  the 
4th.  Not  until  the  5th  was  the  whole  army  up,  and  then  it 
was  discovered  that  no  adequate  supplies  were  within  less  than 
fifty  miles.  Subsistence  could  be  obtained  only  by  foraging 
parties.  No  word  of  complaint  from  the  suffering  men  reached 
their  commander,  and  on  the  evening  of  that  disappointing  day 
they  patiently  and  silently  began  the  sad  march  anew.  Their 
course  was  through  unfavorable  territory  and  necessarily  slow. 
The  Federals  were  gaining  upon  their  retreating  columns. 
Sheridan's  cavalry  had  reached  their  flank,  and  on  the  6th  there 
was  heavy  skirmishing.  In  the  afternoon  the  Federals  had  ar 
rived  in  force  sufficient  to  bring  on  an  engagement  with  E  well's 
corps  in  the  rear,  at  Sailor's  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Appomat- 
tox  River.  Ewell  was  surrounded  by  the  Federals  and  the 
entire  corps  captured.  General  Anderson,  commanding  the 
divisions  of  Pickett  and  Johnson,  was  attacked  and  fought 
bravely,  losing  many  men.  In  all  about  six  thousand  Confed 
erate  soldiers  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  pursuing  army. 

On  the  night  of  the  6th,  the  remainder  of  the  Confederate 
army  continued  the  retreat  and  arrived  at  Farmville,  where 
the  men  received  two  days'  rations,  the  first  food  except  raw  or 
parched  corn  that  had  been  given  them  for  two  days.  Again 
the  tedious  journey  was  resumed,  in  the  hope  of  breaking 
through  the  rapidly-enmeshing  net  and  forming  a  junction 
with  Johnston  at  Danville,  or  of  gaining  the  protected  region 
of  the  mountains  near  Lynchburg.  But  the  progress  of  the 
weak  and  weary  marchers  was  slow  and  the  Federal  cavalry 
had  swept  around  to  Lee's  front,  and  a  halt  was  necessary  to. 
check  the  pursuing  Federals.  On  the  evening  of  the  8th,  Lee 
reached  Appomattox  Court  House.  Here  ended  the  last 
march  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

General  Lee  and  his  officers  held  a  council  of  war  on  the 
night  of  the  8th  and  it  was  decided  to  make  an  effort  to  cut  their 
way  through  the  Union  lines  on  the  morning  of  the  next  day. 
On  the  7th,  wrhile  at  Farmville,  on  the  south  side  of  the 


' 


EMPTY  VAULTS— THE  EXCHANGE  BANK,  RICHMOND,  1865 

The  sad  significance  of  these  photographs  is  all  too  apparent.  Not  only  the  bank  buildings 
were  in  ruins,  but  the  financial  system  of  the  entire  South.  All  available  capital  had  been 
consumed  by  the  demands  of  the  war,  and  a  system  of  paper  currency  had  destroyed  credit 
completely.  Worse  still  was  the  demoralization  of  all  industry.  Through  large  areas  of 
the  South  all  mills  and  factories  were  reduced  to  ashes,  and  everywhere  the  industrial  system 
was  turned  topsy-turvy.  Truly  the  problem  that  confronted  the  South  was  stupendous. 


RIGHT,    1911,    PATRIOT   PUB.  CO 


WRECK  OF  THE   GALLEGO  FLOUR   MILLS 


April 
1865 


.1 


Appomattox  River,  Grant  sent  to  Lee  a  courteous  request  for 
the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  based  on  the 
hopelessness  of  further  resistance  on  the  part  of  that  army. 
In  reply,  Lee  expressed  sympathy  with  Grant's  desire  to  avoid 
useless  effusion  of  blood  and  asked  the  terms  of  surrender. 

The  next  morning  General  Grant  replied  to  Lee,  urging 
that  a  meeting  be  designated  by  Lee,  and  specifying  the  terms 
of  surrender,  to  which  Lee  replied  promptly,  rejecting  those 
terms,  which  were,  that  the  Confederates  lay  down  their  arms, 
and  the  men  and  officers  be  disqualified  for  taking  up  arms 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States  until  properly 
exchanged.  When  Grant  read  Lee's  letter  he  shook  his  head 
in  disappointment  and  said,  "  It  looks  as  if  Lee  still  means 
to  fight;  I  will  reply  in  the  morning." 

On  the  9th  Grant  addressed  another  communication  to 
Lee,  repeating  the  terms  of  surrender,  and  closed  by  saying, 
'  The  terms  upon  which  peace  can  be  had  are  well  understood. 
By  the  South  laying  down  their  arms  they  will  hasten  that 
most  desirable  event,  save  thousands  of  human  lives,  and  hun 
dreds  of  millions  of  property  not  yet  destroyed.  Sincerely 
hoping  that  all  our  difficulties  may  be  settled  without  the  loss  of 
another  life,  I  subscribe  myself,  etc.y 

There  remained  for  Lee  the  bare  possibility,  by  desperate 
fighting,  of  breaking  through  the  Federal  lines  in  his  rear.  To 
Gordon's  corps  was  assigned  the  task  of  advancing  on  Sheri 
dan's  strongly  supported  front.  Since  Pickett's  charge  at  Get 
tysburg  there  had  been  no  more  hopeless  movement  in  the 
annals  of  the  war.  It  was  not  merely  that  Gordon  was  over 
whelmingly  outnumbered  by  the  opposing  forces,  but  his  hun 
ger-enfeebled  soldiers,  even  if  successful  in  the  first  onslaught, 
could  count  on  no  effective  support,  for  Longstreet's  corps  was 
in  even  worse  condition  than  his  own.  Nevertheless,  on  the 
morning  of  Sunday,  the  9th,  the  attempt  was  made.  Gordon 
was  fighting  his  corps,  as  he  said,  "  to  a  frazzle,"  when  'Lee 
came  at  last  to  a  realizing  sense  of  the  futility  of  it  all  and 


SIGNS   OF   PEACE— CONFEDERATE   ARTILLERY  CAPTURED  AT  RICHMOND   AND   WAITING  SHIPMENT 


Never  again  to  be  used  by  brother  against  brother,  these 
Confederate  guns  captured  in  the  defenses  about  Rich 
mond  are  parked  near 
the  wharves  on  the 
James  River  ready  for 
shipment  to  the  national 
arsenal  at  Washington, 
once  more  the  capital  of 
a  united  country.  The 
reflection  of  these  in 
struments  of  destruc 
tion  on  the  peaceful  sur-  , 
face  of  the  canal  is  not 
more  clear  than  was  the 
purpose  of  the  South  to 
accept  the  issues  of  the 
war  and  to  restore  as  far 
as  in  them  lay  the  bases 
for  an  enduring  pros 
perity.  The  same  de 
votion  which  manned 
these  guns  so  bravely 


and    prolonged    the    contest 
human     powers     to     endure, 


as  long  as  it  was  possible  for 
was  now  directed  to  the  new 
problems  which  the  ces 
sation  of  hostilities  had 
provided.  The  restored 
Union  came  with  the 
years  to  possess  for  the 
South  a  significance  to 
be  measured  only  by  the 
thankfulness  that  the 
outcome  had  been  what 
it  was  and  by  the  pride 
in  the  common  tradi 
tions  and  common  blood 
of  the  whole  American 
people.  These  captured 
guns  are  a  memory  there 
fore,  not  of  regret,  but 
of  recognition,  gratitude, 
that  the  highest  earthly 
tribunal  settled  all  strife 
in  1865. 


COEHORNS,  MORTARS,  LIGHT  AND  HEAVY  GUNS 


ordered  a  truce.  A  meeting  with  Grant  was  soon  arranged 
on  the  basis  of  the  letters  already  exchanged.  The  conference 
of  the  two  world-famous  commanders  took  place  at  Appomat- 
tox,  a  small  settlement  with  only  one  street,  but  to  be  made 
historic  by  this  meeting.  Lee  was  awaiting  Grant's  arrival  at 
the  house  of  Wilmer  McLean.  It  was  here,  surrounded  by 
staff -officers,  that  the  terms  were  written  by  Grant  for  the  final 
surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia^  The  terms,  and 
their  acceptance,  were  embodied  in  the  following  letters,  writ 
ten  and  signed  in  the  famous  "  brick  house  "  on  that  memorable 
Sunday : 

APPOMATTOX  COURT  HOUSE,  VIRGINIA, 

APRIL  9,   1865. 

GENERAL  :  In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my  letter  to  you  of 
the  8th  instant,  I  propose  to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  on  the  following  terms,  to  wit :  Rolls  of  all  the  officers 
and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate,  one  copy  to  be  given  to  an  officer  to 
be  designated  by  me,  the  other  to  be  retained  by  such  officer  or  officers 
as  you  may  designate.  The  officers  to  give  their  individual  paroles  not 
to  take  up  arms  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States  until 
properly  exchanged ;  and  each  company  or  regimental  commander  to 
sign  a  like  parole  for  the  men  of  their  commands.  The  arms,  artillery, 
and  public  property  to  be  parked  and  stacked,  and  turned  over  to  the 
officers  appointed  by  me  to  receive  them.  This  will  not  embrace  the 
side-arms  of  the  officers,  nor  their  private  horses  or  baggage.  This 
done,  each  officer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to  return  to  his  home,  not  to 
be  disturbed  by  the  United  States  authority  so  long  as  they  observe 
their  paroles  and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  may  reside. 

U.   S.   GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 
General  R.  E.  Lee. 

i 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA, 

APRIL  9,  1865. 

GENERAL:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  date  containing  the 
terms  of  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  as  proposed 
by  you.  As  they  are  substantially  the  same  as  those  expressed  in  your 


k\  V 

il'3s-      -         \...:'.>- 


EVIEWS   CO. 


LINCOLN 

THE   LAST    SITTING ON    THE    DAY    OF    LEE's    SURRENDER 


On  April  9,  ISGo,  the  very  day  of  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox,  Lincoln,  for  the  last  time,  went  to  the 
photographer's  gallery.  As  he  sits  in  simple  fashion  sharpening  his  pencil,  the  man  of  sorrows  cannot  forget  the 
sense  of  weariness  and  pain  that  for  four  years  has  been  unbroken.  No  elation  of  triumph  lights  the  features. 
One  task  is  ended — the  Nation  is  saved.  But  another,  scarcely  less  exacting,  confronts  him.  The  States  which 
lay  "out  of  their  proper  practical  relation  to  the  Union,"  in  his  own  phrase,  must  be  brought  back  into  a  proper 
practical  relation.  But  this  task  was  not  for  him.  Only  five  days  later  the  sad  eyes  reflected  upon  this  page 
closed  forever  upon  scenes  of  earthly  turmoil.  Bereft  of  Lincoln's  heart  and  head,  leaders  attacked  problems  of 
reconstruction  in  ways  that  proved  unwise.  As  the  mists  of  passion  and  prejudice  cleared  away,  both  North  and 
South  came  to  feel  that  this  patient,  wise,  and  sympathetic  ruler  was  one  of  the  few  really  great  mc-n  in  history, 
and  that  he  wou'.d  live  forever  in  the  hearts  of  men  made  better  by  his  presence  during  those  four  years  of  storm. 


letter  of  the  8th  instant,  they  are  accepted.     I  will  proceed  to  designate 
the  proper  officers  to  carry  the  stipulation  into  effect. 

R.  E.  LKK,  General. 
Lieutenant-Genera]  U.  S.  Grant. 

When  Federal  officers  were  seen  galloping  toward  the 
Union  lines  from  Appomattox  Court  House  it  was  quickly 
surmised  that  Lee  had  surrendered.  Cheer  after  cheer  was  sent 
up  by  the  long  lines  throughout  their  entire  length;  caps  and 
tattered  colors  were  waved  in  the  air.  Officers  and  men  alike 
joined  in  the  enthusiastic  outburst.  It  was  glad  tidings, 
indeed,  to  these  men,  who  had  fought  and  hoped  and  suffered 
through  the  long  bloody  years. 

When  Grant  returned  to  his  headquarters  and  heard 
salutes  being  fired  he  ordered  it  stopped  at  once,  saying,  "  The 
war  is  over ;  the  rebels  are  our  countrymen  again ;  and  the  best 
sign  of  rejoicing  after  the  victory  will  be  to  abstain  from  all 
demonstration  in  the  field." 

Details  of  the  surrender  were  arranged  on  the  next  day 
by  staff-officers  of  the  respective  armies.  The  parole  officers 
were  instructed  by  General  Grant  to  permit  the  Confederate 
soldiers  to  retain  their  own  horses — a  concession  that  was  most 
welcome  to  many  of  the  men,  who  had  with  them  animals 
brought  from  the  home  farm  early  in  the  war. 

There  were  only  twenty-eight  thousand  men  to  be  paroled, 
and  of  these  fewer  than  one-third  were  actually  bearing  arms 
on  the  day  of  the  surrender.  The  Confederate  losses  of  the  last 
ten  days  of  fighting  probably  exceeded  ten  thousand. 

The  Confederate  supplies  had  been  captured  by  Sheridan, 
and  Lee's  army  was  almost  at  the  point  of  starvation.  An 
order  from  Grant  caused  the  rations  of  the  Federal  soldiers 
to  be  shared  with  the  "  Johnnies,"  and  the  victorious  "  Yanks  " 
were  only  too  glad  to  tender  such  hospitality  as  was  within 
their  power.  These  acts  of  kindness  were  slight  in  themselves, 
but  they  helped  immeasurably  to  restore  good  feeling  and  to 


ft  \j 


One  of  the  proudest  days  of  the  nation — 
'May  24,  1865 — here  lives  again.  The 
true  greatness  of  the  American  people  was 
not  displayed  till  the  close  of  the  war. 
The  citizen  from  the  walks  of  humble  life 
had  during  the  contest  become  a  veteran 
soldier,  equal  in  courage  and  fighting 
capacity  to  the  best  drilled  infantry  of 
Marlborough,  Frederick  the  Great,  or 
Napoleon.  But  it  remained  to  be  seen 
whether  he  would  return  peacefully  to  the 
occupations  of  peace.  European  nations 
made  dark  predictions.  "Would  nearly  a 
million  men,"  they  asked,  "one  of  the 
mightiest  military  organizations  ever 
trained  in  war,  quietly  lay  aside  this  re 
sistless  power  and  disappear  into  the  un 
noted  walks  of  civil  life?"  Europe  with 
its  standing  armies  thought  not.  Europe 
was  mistaken.  The  disbanded  veterans 
lent  the  effectiveness  of  military  order  and 
discipline  to  the  industrial  and  commercial 
developmenf  of  the  land  they  had  come 
to  love  with  an  increased  devotion.  The 
pictures  are  of  Sherman's  troops  marching 


THE  RETURN  OF  THE  SOLDIERS— THE  GRAND  REVIEW 


down  Pennsylvania  Avenue.  The  horse 
men  in  the  lead  are  General  Francis  P. 
Blair  and  his  staff,  and  the  infantry  in 
flashing  new  uniforms  are  part  of  the 
Seventeenth  Corps  in  the  Army  of  Ten 
nessee.  Little  over  a  year  before,  they 
had  started  with  Sherman  on  his  series  of 
battles  and  flanking  marches  in  the  strug 
gle  for  Atlanta.  They  had  taken  a  con 
spicuous  and  important  part  in  the  battle 
of  July  22d  east  of  Atlanta,  receiving  and 
finally  repulsing  attacks  in  both  front  and 
rear.  They  had  marched  with  Sherman 
to  the  sea  and  participated  in  the  capture 
of  Savannah.  They  had  joined  in  the 
campaign  through  the  Carolinas,  part  of 
the  time  leading  the  advance  and  tearing 
up  many  miles  of  railway  track,  and  oper 
ating  on  the  extreme  right  after  the  battle 
of  Bentonville.  After  the  negotiations 
for  Johnston's  surrender  were  completed 
in  April,  they  set  out  on  the  march  for  the 
last  time  with  flying  colors  and  martial 
music,  to  enter  the  memorable  review  at 
Washington  in  May,  here  preserved. 


THE  SAME  SCENE,  A  FEW  SECONDS  LATER 


ppnmatto* 


-$••$• 


April 
1865 


associate  for  all  time  with  Appomattox  the  memory  of  reunion 
rather  than  of  strife.  The  things  that  were  done  there  can 
never  be  the  cause  of  shame  to  any  American.  The  noble  and 
dignified  bearing  of  the  commanders  was  an  example  to  their 
armies  and  to  the  world  that  quickly  had  its  effect  in  the  gen 
uine  reconciliation  that  followed. 

(The  scene  between  Lee  and  his  devoted  army  was  pro 
foundly  touching.  General  Long  in  his  "  Memoirs  of  Lee  " 
says :  "  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  anguish  of  the  troops 
when  it  was  known  that  the  surrender  of  the  army  was  inevita 
ble.  Of  all  their  trials,  this  was  the  greatest  and  hardest  to 
endure."  As  Lee  rode  along  the  lines  of  the  tried  and  faithful 
men  who  had  been  with  him  at  the  Wilderness,  at  Spotsyl- 
vania,  and  at  Cold  Harbor,  it  was  not  strange  that  those 
ragged,  weather-beaten  heroes  were  moved  by  deep  emotion 
and  that  tears  streamed  down  their  bronzed  and  scarred  faces. 
Their  general  in  broken  accents  admonished  them  to  go  to  their 
homes  and  be  as  brave  citizens  as  they  had  been  soldiers. 

Thus  ended  the  greatest  civil  war  in  history)  for  soon  after 
the  fall  of  the  Confederate  capital  and  the  surrender  of  Lee's 
army,  there  followed  in  quick  succession  the  surrender  of  all 
the  remaining  Southern  forces. 

While  these  stirring  events  were  taking  place  in  Virginia, 
Sherman,  who  had  swept  up  through  the  Carolinas  with  the 
same  dramatic  brilliancy  that  marked  his  march  to  the  sea,  ac 
complishing  most  effective  work  against  Johnston,  was  at 
Goldsboro.  When  Johnston  learned  of  the  fall  of  Rich 
mond  and  Lee's  surrender  he  knew  the  end  had  come  and 
he  soon  arranged  for  the  surrender  of  his  army  on  the  terms 
agreed  upon  at  Appomattox.  In  the  first  week  of  May 
General  "  Dick  "  Taylor  surrendered  his  command  near  Mo 
bile,  and  on  the  10th  of  the  same  month,  President  Jefferson 
Davis,  who  had  been  for  nearly  six  weeks  a  fugitive,  was  over 
taken  and  made  a  prisoner  near  Irwinsville,  Georgia.  The 
Southern  Confederacy  was  a  thing  of  the  past. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY—  TEL.  NO.  642-3405 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  dace  stamped  below  or 
R™        -°^thIedateto  which  renewed.  ' 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall 


LD2]A-60m-3  '70 
(N5382slO)476-A-32 


.  General  Library 

Umversity  of  California 

Berkeley 


It  05721 


